Chapter 1. RHACS Cloud Service service description
Chapter 1. RHACS Cloud Service service description 1.1. Introduction to RHACS Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes (RHACS) is an enterprise-ready, Kubernetes-native container security solution that helps you build, deploy, and run cloud-native applications more securely. Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service (RHACS Cloud Service) provides Kubernetes-native security as a service. With RHACS Cloud Service, Red Hat maintains, upgrades, and manages your Central services. Central services include the user interface (UI), data storage, RHACS application programming interface (API), and image scanning capabilities. You deploy your Central service through the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console. When you create a new ACS instance, Red Hat creates your individual control plane for RHACS. RHACS Cloud Service allows you to secure self-managed clusters that communicate with a Central instance. The clusters you secure, called Secured Clusters, are managed by you, and not by Red Hat. Secured Cluster services include optional vulnerability scanning services, admission control services, and data collection services used for runtime monitoring and compliance. You install Secured Cluster services on any OpenShift or Kubernetes cluster you want to secure. 1.2. Architecture RHACS Cloud Service is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) over two regions, eu-west-1 and us-east-1, and uses the network access points provided by the cloud provider. Each tenant from RHACS Cloud Service uses highly-available egress proxies and is spread over 3 availability zones. For more information about RHACS Cloud Service system architecture and components, see Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service (RHACS Cloud Service) architecture . 1.3. Billing Customers can purchase a RHACS Cloud Service subscription on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) marketplace. The service cost is charged hourly per secured core, or vCPU of a node belonging to a secured cluster. Example 1.1. Subscription cost example If you have established a connection to two secured clusters, each with 5 identical nodes with 8 vCPUs (such as Amazon EC2 m7g.2xlarge), the total number of secured cores is 80 (2 x 5 x 8 = 80). 1.4. Security and compliance All RHACS Cloud Service data in the Central instance is encrypted in transit and at rest. The data is stored in secure storage with full replication and high availability together with regularly-scheduled backups. RHACS Cloud Service is available through cloud data centers that ensure optimal performance and the ability to meet data residency requirements. 1.4.1. Information security guidelines, roles, and responsibilities Red Hat's information security guidelines, aligned with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework , are approved by executive management. Red Hat maintains a dedicated team of globally-distributed certified information security professionals. See the following resources: FIRST: RH-ISIRT team TF-CSIRT: RH-ISIRT team Red Hat has strict internal policies and practices to protect our customers and their businesses. These policies and practices are confidential. In addition, we comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including those related to data privacy. Red Hat's information security roles and responsibilities are not managed by third parties. Red Hat maintains an ISO 27001 certification for our corporate information security management system (ISMS), which governs how all of our people work, corporate endpoint devices, and authentication and authorization practices. We have taken a standardized approach to this through the implementation of the Red Hat Enterprise Security Standard (ESS) to all infrastructure, products, services and technology that Red Hat employs. A copy of the ESS is available upon request. RHACS Cloud Service runs on an instance of OpenShift Dedicated hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS). OpenShift Dedicated is compliant with ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type 2, and HIPAA. Strong processes and security controls are aligned with industry standards to manage information security. RHACS Cloud Service follows the same security principles, guidelines, processes and controls defined for OpenShift Dedicated. These certifications demonstrate how our services platform, associated operations, and management practices align with core security requirements. We meet many of these requirements by following solid Secure Software Development Framework (SSDF) practices as defined by NIST, including build pipeline security. Implementation of SSDF controls are implemented via our Secure Software Management Lifecycle (SSML) for all products and services. Red Hat's proven and experienced global site reliability engineering (SRE) team is available 24x7 and proactively manages the cluster life cycle, infrastructure configuration, scaling, maintenance, security patching, and incident response as it relates to the hosted components of RHACS Cloud Service. The Red Hat SRE team is responsible for managing HA, uptime, backups, restore, and security for the RHACS Cloud Service control plane. RHACS Cloud Service comes with a 99.95% availability SLA and 24x7 RH SRE support by phone or chat. You are responsible for use of the product, including implementation of policies, vulnerability management, and deployment of secured cluster components within your OpenShift Container Platform environments. The Red Hat SRE team manages the control plane that contains tenant data in line with the compliance frameworks noted previously, including: All Red Hat SRE access the data plane clusters through the backplane which enables audited access to the cluster Red Hat SRE only deploys images from the Red Hat registry. All content posted to the Red Hat registry goes through rigorous checks. These images are the same images available to self-managed customers. Each tenant has their own individual mTLS CA, which encrypts data in-transit, enabling multi-tenant isolation. Additional isolation is provided via SELinux controls namespaces and network policies. Each tenant has their own instance of the RDS database. All Red Hat SREs and developers go through rigorous Secure Development Lifecycle training. For more information, see the following resources: Red Hat Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) services Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated An Overview of Red Hat's Secure Development Lifecycle (SDL) practices 1.4.2. Vulnerability management program Red Hat scans for vulnerabilities in our products during the build process and our dedicated Product Security team tracks and assesses newly-discovered vulnerabilities. Red Hat Information Security regularly scans running environments for vulnerabilities. Qualified critical and important Security Advisories (RHSAs) and urgent and selected high priority Bug Fix Advisories (RHBAs) are released as they become available. All other available fix and qualified patches are released via periodic updates. All RHACS Cloud Service software impacted by critical or important severity flaws are updated as soon as the fix is available. For more information about remediation of critical or high-priority issues, see Understanding Red Hat's Product Security Incident Response Plan . 1.4.3. Security exams and audits RHACS Cloud Service does not currently hold any external security certifications or attestations. The Red Hat Information Risk and Security Team has achieved ISO 27001:2013 certification for our Information Security Management System (ISMS). 1.4.4. Systems interoperability security RHACS Cloud Service supports integrations with registries, CI systems, notification systems, workflow systems like ServiceNow and Jira, and Security information and event management (SIEM) platforms. For more information about supported integrations, see the Integrating documentation. Custom integrations can be implemented using the API or generic webhooks. RHACS Cloud Service uses certificate-based architecture (mTLS) for both authentication and end-to-end encryption of all inflight traffic between the customer's site and Red Hat. It does not require a VPN. IP allowlists are not supported. Data transfer is encrypted using mTLS. File transfer, including Secure FTP, is not supported. 1.4.5. Malicious code prevention RHACS Cloud Service is deployed on Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS). The user space in RHCOS is read-only. In addition, all RHACS Cloud Service instances are monitored in runtime by RHACS. Red Hat uses a commercially-available, enterprise-grade anti-virus solution for Windows and Mac platforms, which is centrally managed and logged. Anti-virus solutions on Linux-based platforms are not part of Red Hat's strategy, as they can introduce additional vulnerabilities. Instead, we harden and rely on the built-in tooling (for example, SELinux) to protect the platform. Red Hat uses SentinelOne and osquery for individual endpoint security, with updates made as they are available from the vendor. All third-party JavaScript libraries are downloaded and included in build images which are scanned for vulnerabilities before being published. 1.4.6. Systems development lifecycle security Red Hat follows secure development lifecycle practices. Red Hat Product Security practices are aligned with the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and ISO12207:2017 wherever it is feasible. Red Hat covers OWASP project recommendations along with other secure software development practices to increase the general security posture of our products. OWASP project analysis is included in Red Hat's automated scanning, security testing, and threat models, as the OWASP project is built based on selected CWE weaknesses. Red Hat monitors weaknesses in our products to address issues before they are exploited and become vulnerabilities. For more information, see the following resources: Red Hat Software Development Life Cycle practices Security by design: Security principles and threat modeling Applications are scanned regularly and the container scan results of the product are available publicly. For example, on the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog site, you can select a component image such as rhacs-main and click the Security tab to see the health index and the status of security updates. As part of Red Hat's policy, a support policy and maintenance plan is issued for any third-party components we depend on that go to end-of-life. 1.4.7. Software Bill of Materials Red Hat has published software bill of materials (SBOMs) files for core Red Hat offerings. An SBOM is a machine-readable, comprehensive inventory (manifest) of software components and dependencies with license and provenance information. SBOM files help establish reviews for procurement and audits of what is in a set of software applications and libraries. Combined with Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange (VEX), SBOMs help an organization address its vulnerability risk assessment process. Together they provide information on where a potential risk might exist (where the vulnerable artifact is included and the correlation between this artifact and components or the product), and its current status to known vulnerabilities or exploits. Red Hat, together with other vendors, is working to define the specific requirements for publishing useful SBOMs that can be correlated with Common Security Advisory Framework (CSAF)-VEX files, and inform consumers and partners about how to use this data. For now, SBOM files published by Red Hat, including SBOMs for RHACS Cloud Service, are considered to be beta versions for customer testing and are available at https://access.redhat.com/security/data/sbom/beta/spdx/ . For more detail on Red Hat's Security data, see The future of Red Hat security data . 1.4.8. Data centers and providers The following third-party providers are used by Red Hat in providing subscription support services: Flexential hosts the Raleigh Data Center, which is the primary data center used to support the Red Hat Customer Portal databases. Digital Realty hosts the Phoenix Data Center, which is the secondary backup data center supporting the Red Hat Customer Portal databases. Salesforce provides the engine behind the customer ticketing system. AWS is used to augment data center infrastructure capacity, some of which is used to support the Red Hat Customer Portal application. Akamai is used to host the Web Application Firewall and provide DDoS protection. Iron Mountain is used to handle the destruction of sensitive material. 1.5. Access control User accounts are managed with role-based access control (RBAC). See Managing RBAC in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes for more information. Red Hat site reliability engineers (SREs) have access to Central instances. Access is controlled with OpenShift RBAC. Credentials are instantly revoked upon termination. 1.5.1. Authentication provider When you create a Central instance using Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console , authentication for the cluster administrator is configured as part of the process. Customers must manage all access to the Central instance as part of their integrated solution. For more information about the available authentication methods, see Understanding authentication providers . The default identity provider in RHACS Cloud Service is Red Hat Single Sign-On (SSO). Authorization rules are set up to provide administrator access to the user who created the RHACS Cloud Service and to users who are marked as organization administrators in Red Hat SSO. The admin login is disabled for RHACS Cloud Service by default and can only be enabled temporarily by SREs. For more information about authentication using Red Hat SSO, see Default access to the ACS Console . 1.5.2. Password management Red Hat's password policy requires the use of a complex password. Passwords must contain at least 14 characters and at least three of the following character classes: Base 10 digits (0 to 9) Upper case characters (A to Z) Lower case characters (a to z) Punctuation, spaces, and other characters Most systems require two-factor authentication. Red Hat follows best password practices according to NIST guidelines . 1.5.3. Remote access Access for remote support and troubleshooting is strictly controlled through implementation of the following guidelines: Strong two-factor authentication for VPN access A segregated network with management and administrative networks requiring additional authentication through a bastion host All access and management is performed over encrypted sessions Our customer support team offers Bomgar as a remote access solution for troubleshooting. Bomgar sessions are optional, must be initiated by the customer, and can be monitored and controlled. To prevent information leakage, logs are shipped to SRE through our security information and event management (SIEM) application, Splunk. 1.6. Compliance RHACS Cloud Service is certified across key global standards, ensuring top-tier security, compliance, and data protection for your business. The following table outlines certifications for RHACS Cloud Service. Table 1.1. Security and control certifications for RHACS Cloud Service Compliance RHACS Cloud Service on Kubernetes ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Yes ISO/IEC 27017:2015 Yes ISO/IEC 27018:2019 Yes PCI DSS 4.0 Yes SOC 2 Type 2 Yes SOC 2 Type 3 Yes 1.7. Data protection Red Hat provides data protection by using various methods, such as logging, access control, and encryption. 1.7.1. Data storage media protection To protect our data and client data from risk of theft or destruction, Red Hat employs the following methods: access logging automated account termination procedures application of the principle of least privilege Data is encrypted in transit and at rest using strong data encryption following NIST guidelines and Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) where possible and practical. This includes backup systems. RHACS Cloud Service encrypts data at rest within the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) database by using AWS-managed Key Management Services (KMS) keys. All data between the application and the database, together with data exchange between the systems, are encrypted in transit. 1.7.1.1. Data retention and destruction Records, including those containing personal data, are retained as required by law. Records not required by law or a reasonable business need are securely removed. Secure data destruction requirements are included in operating procedures, using military grade tools. In addition, staff have access to secure document destruction facilities. 1.7.1.2. Encryption Red Hat uses AWS managed keys which are rotated by AWS each year. For information on the use of keys, see AWS KMS key management . For more information about RDS, see Amazon RDS Security . 1.7.1.3. Multi-tenancy RHACS Cloud Service isolates tenants by namespace on OpenShift Container Platform. SELinux provides additional isolation. Each customer has a unique RDS instance. 1.7.1.4. Data ownership Customer data is stored in an encrypted RDS database not available on the public internet. Only Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) have access to it, and the access is audited. Every RHACS Cloud Service system comes integrated with Red Hat external SSO. Authorization rules are set up to provide administrator access to the user created the Cloud Service and to users who are marked as organization administrators in Red Hat SSO. The admin login is disabled for RHACS Cloud Service by default and can only be temporarily enabled by SREs. Red Hat collects information about the number of secured clusters connected to RHACS Cloud Service and the usage of features. Metadata generated by the application and stored in the RDS database is owned by the customer. Red Hat only accesses data for troubleshooting purposes and with customer permission. Red Hat access requires audited privilege escalation. Upon contract termination, Red Hat can perform a secure disk wipe upon request. However, we are unable to physically destroy media (cloud providers such as AWS do not provide this option). To secure data in case of a breach, you can perform the following actions: Disconnect all secured clusters from RHACS Cloud Service immediately using the cluster management page. Immediately disable access to the RHACS Cloud Service by using the Access Control page. Immediately delete your RHACS instance, which also deletes the RDS instance. Any AWS RDS (data store) specific access modifications would be implemented by the RHACS Cloud Service SRE engineers. 1.8. Metrics and Logging 1.8.1. Service metrics Service metrics are internal only. Red Hat provides and maintains the service at the agreed upon level. Service metrics are accessible only to authorized Red Hat personnel. For more information, see PRODUCT APPENDIX 4 RED HAT ONLINE SERVICES . 1.8.2. Customer metrics Core usage capacity metrics are available either through Subscription Watch or the Subscriptions page . 1.8.3. Service logging System logs for all components of the Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service (RHACS Cloud Service) are internal and available only to Red Hat personnel. Red Hat does not provide user access to component logs. For more information, see PRODUCT APPENDIX 4 RED HAT ONLINE SERVICES . 1.9. Updates and Upgrades Red Hat makes a commercially reasonable effort to notify customers prior to updates and upgrades that impact service. The decision regarding the need for a Service update to the Central instance and its timing is the sole responsibility of Red Hat. Customers have no control over when a Central service update occurs. For more information, see PRODUCT APPENDIX 4 RED HAT ONLINE SERVICES . Upgrades to the version of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service (RHACS Cloud Service) are considered part of the service update. Upgrades are transparent to the customer and no connection to any update site is required. Customers are responsible for timely RHACS Secured Cluster services upgrades that are required to maintain compatibility with RHACS Cloud Service. Red Hat recommends enabling automatic upgrades for Secured Clusters that are connected to RHACS Cloud Service. See the Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes Support Matrix for more information about upgrade versions. 1.10. Availability Availability and disaster avoidance are extremely important aspects of any security platform. Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service (RHACS Cloud Service) provides numerous protections against failures at multiple levels. To account for possible cloud provider failures, Red Hat established multiple availability zones. 1.10.1. Backup and disaster recovery The RHACS Cloud Service Disaster Recovery strategy includes backups of database and any customization. This also applies to customer data stored in the Central database. Recovery time varies based on the number of appliances and database sizes; however, because the appliances can be clustered and distributed, the RTO can be reduced upfront with proper architecture planning. All snapshots are created using the appropriate cloud provider snapshot APIs, encrypted and then uploaded to secure object storage, which for Amazon Web Services (AWS) is an S3 bucket. Red Hat does not commit to a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) or Recovery Time Objective (RTO). For more information, see PRODUCT APPENDIX 4 RED HAT ONLINE SERVICES . Site Reliability Engineering performs backups only as a precautionary measure. They are stored in the same region as the cluster. Customers should deploy multiple availability zone Secured Clusters with workloads that follow Kubernetes best practices to ensure high availability within a region. Disaster recovery plans are exercised annually at a minimum. A Business Continuity Management standard and guideline is in place so that the BC lifecycle is consistently followed throughout the organization. This policy includes a requirement for testing at least annually, or with major change of functional plans. Review sessions are required to be conducted after any plan exercise or activation, and plan updates are made as needed. Red Hat has generator backup systems. Our IT production systems are hosted in a Tier 3 data center facility that has recurring testing to ensure redundancy is operational. They are audited yearly to validate compliance. 1.11. Getting support for RHACS Cloud Service If you experience difficulty with a procedure described in this documentation, or with RHACS Cloud Service in general, visit the Red Hat Customer Portal . From the Customer Portal, you can perform the following actions: Search or browse through the Red Hat Knowledgebase of articles and solutions relating to Red Hat products. Submit a support case to Red Hat Support. Access other product documentation. To identify issues with your cluster, you can use Insights in RHACS Cloud Service. Insights provides details about issues and, if available, information on how to solve a problem. 1.12. Service removal You can delete RHACS Cloud Service using the default delete operations from the Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console . Deleting the RHACS Cloud Service Central instance automatically removes all RHACS components. Deleting is not reversible. 1.13. Pricing For information about subscription fees, see PRODUCT APPENDIX 4 RED HAT ONLINE SERVICES . 1.14. Service Level Agreement For more information about the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) offered for Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Cloud Service (RHACS Cloud Service), see PRODUCT APPENDIX 4 RED HAT ONLINE SERVICES .