Runbook 03 — Enterprise Container Investigation

Runbook Information

Property	Value
Runbook Name	Enterprise Container Investigation
Module	Module 06 — Container Security
Runbook Number	Runbook 03
Assessment Type	Enterprise Container Security Investigation
Estimated Duration	1–3 Days
Audience	Cloud Penetration Testers, Container Security Engineers, DevSecOps Engineers, Incident Responders, Cloud Security Consultants
Framework	GoHackersCloud Enterprise Container Security Assessment Framework

Purpose

This runbook provides a structured methodology for performing a complete enterprise container security investigation following a suspected security incident or as part of a proactive security assessment.

Unlike a standard configuration review, this investigation focuses on identifying indicators of compromise, validating runtime security controls, analyzing attacker activity, assessing business impact, and producing executive-ready investigation reports.

Investigation Scope

Review the following components:

Docker Engine
Kubernetes Clusters
Amazon EKS
Azure AKS
Google GKE
Container Images
Container Registries
Runtime Security
Linux Security Controls
Kubernetes Audit Logs
CI/CD Pipeline
Software Supply Chain
IAM & RBAC
Network Activity
Incident Response Readiness

Investigation Methodology

Incident Intake

↓

Scope Definition

↓

Evidence Collection

↓

Environment Enumeration

↓

Container Investigation

↓

Runtime Analysis

↓

Identity Investigation

↓

Network Investigation

↓

Timeline Reconstruction

↓

Business Impact Assessment

↓

Root Cause Analysis

↓

Executive Reporting

Phase 1 — Incident Intake

Objectives

Understand the reported security event.
Identify affected business services.
Confirm investigation scope.
Assign investigation priorities.
Establish communication channels.

Collect

Incident ticket
Initial alerts
SOC notifications
Customer reports
Threat intelligence
Previous investigations

Phase 2 — Scope Definition

Identify:

Affected cloud provider
Kubernetes clusters
Docker hosts
Container registries
CI/CD pipelines
Business applications
Production workloads
Critical assets

Validate

Business ownership
Environment classification
Regulatory requirements
Data sensitivity

Phase 3 — Evidence Collection

Collect evidence before making any changes.

Acquire:

Docker configuration
Running container list
Kubernetes manifests
Runtime logs
Kubernetes Audit Logs
Cloud audit logs
Authentication logs
Registry logs
CI/CD logs
SIEM alerts
Network captures
System timestamps

Maintain evidence integrity throughout the investigation.

Phase 4 — Environment Enumeration

Document the enterprise environment.

Review:

Docker versions
Kubernetes versions
Worker nodes
Control plane components
Running containers
Images
Registries
Cloud integrations

Validate

Inventory accuracy
Workload ownership
Administrative access
Cluster health

Phase 5 — Container Investigation

Review:

Running containers
Stopped containers
Privileged containers
Root containers
Mounted volumes
HostPath mounts
Resource limits
Container metadata

Identify

Suspicious workloads
Unknown containers
Unauthorized deployments
Configuration drift

Phase 6 — Runtime Security Investigation

Analyze runtime behavior.

Review:

Process execution
Shell access
Privilege escalation
File modifications
Runtime alerts
Falco events
Container lifecycle
Resource anomalies

Validate

Runtime policies
Security monitoring
Threat detection
Workload isolation

Phase 7 — Identity & Access Investigation

Review:

IAM Roles
Kubernetes RBAC
Service Accounts
Cloud identities
Authentication logs
Administrative activity
Privileged sessions
Temporary credentials

Identify

Privilege escalation
Unauthorized access
Excessive permissions
Credential misuse

Phase 8 — Network Investigation

Review:

Network Policies
East-West traffic
North-South traffic
DNS activity
External connections
Ingress traffic
Egress traffic
Service Mesh communications

Validate

Network segmentation
Unauthorized communication
Lateral movement
Data exfiltration attempts

Phase 9 — Supply Chain Investigation

Review:

Source code repository
CI/CD pipelines
Build history
Image provenance
Image signatures
Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)
Registry activity
Artifact integrity

Identify

Compromised images
Malicious dependencies
Unauthorized builds
Supply chain manipulation

Phase 10 — Timeline Reconstruction

Build a complete timeline.

Include:

Initial compromise
Authentication events
Container deployment
Runtime activity
Configuration changes
Privilege escalation
Network communication
Detection events
Incident response actions

Document all timestamps using UTC where possible.

Phase 11 — Business Impact Assessment

Evaluate:

Business services affected
Sensitive data exposure
Customer impact
Financial impact
Regulatory implications
Operational disruption
Recovery requirements
Reputation risk

Prioritize findings according to business impact rather than technical severity alone.

Phase 12 — Root Cause Analysis

Determine:

Initial attack vector
Failed security controls
Misconfigurations
Identity weaknesses
Process failures
Governance gaps
Monitoring deficiencies

Identify both technical and organizational contributing factors.

Risk Classification

Classify findings using enterprise risk ratings.

Severity	Description
Critical	Immediate enterprise-wide security risk
High	Significant compromise requiring urgent remediation
Medium	Moderate security weakness
Low	Minor security issue
Informational	Observation or improvement recommendation

Evidence Checklist

Collect and preserve:

Docker configurations
Kubernetes manifests
Runtime logs
Kubernetes Audit Logs
Cloud audit logs
Registry activity logs
IAM activity
RBAC configuration
Network captures
SIEM alerts
Screenshots
CLI outputs
Timeline documentation

Ensure evidence is securely stored, timestamped, and handled according to organizational forensic procedures.

Investigation Deliverables

Prepare:

Executive Summary
Investigation Scope
Timeline of Events
Technical Findings
Root Cause Analysis
Business Impact Assessment
Risk Register
Security Scorecard
Evidence Inventory
Remediation Roadmap
Executive Presentation

Common Enterprise Findings

Enterprise investigations frequently reveal:

Containers running with excessive privileges
Compromised service accounts
Weak Kubernetes RBAC
Missing runtime monitoring
Unauthorized container deployments
Insecure CI/CD pipelines
Unsigned container images
Excessive IAM permissions
Weak network segmentation
Inadequate incident response procedures

Enterprise Best Practices

Preserve evidence before making changes.
Follow documented incident response procedures.
Correlate runtime, Kubernetes, cloud, and SIEM logs.
Validate workload integrity before restoration.
Apply least privilege across Docker and Kubernetes.
Continuously monitor runtime activity.
Secure the software supply chain with signed images and SBOM validation.
Conduct post-incident reviews and update security controls.
Document all investigation activities and decisions.
Continuously improve governance based on lessons learned.

Success Criteria

The investigation is complete when:

The root cause has been identified.
Affected assets have been documented.
Evidence has been preserved.
Business impact has been assessed.
Risks have been prioritized.
Executive and technical reports have been completed.
Remediation recommendations have been approved and documented.

Runbook Summary

This runbook provides a comprehensive methodology for conducting enterprise container security investigations using the GoHackersCloud Enterprise Container Security Assessment Framework.

By following this structured approach, Cloud Penetration Testers and Cloud Security Consultants can investigate container-related security incidents, analyze runtime behavior, identify root causes, evaluate business impact, and produce executive-ready reports that support informed decision-making and long-term security improvements.

Next Module

➡️ Module 07 — Serverless Security

In the next module, you will learn how to assess and secure serverless platforms including AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions. You will evaluate function security, IAM permissions, event-driven architectures, API integrations, secrets management, monitoring, and enterprise serverless security using the GoHackersCloud Enterprise Cloud Penetration Testing Framework.