CKS Exam Preparation: Complete Security Certification Guide
The Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS) is the most advanced Kubernetes certification. It validates your ability to secure containerized applications and Kubernetes platforms throughout the build, deploy, and runtime phases.
Prerequisites
Important: You must hold an active CKA certification to take the CKS exam. The CKS builds upon CKA knowledge and assumes strong Kubernetes fundamentals.
Exam Overview
- Duration: 2 hours
- Format: Performance-based (hands-on)
- Passing Score: 67%
- Questions: ~16
- Validity: 2 years
Exam Domains
1. Cluster Setup (10%)
- Use Network Policies to restrict cluster-level access
- CIS Benchmark for security configuration
- Ingress security
- Verify platform binaries
2. Cluster Hardening (15%)
- RBAC configuration
- Service Account security
- Limit API access
- Upgrade Kubernetes
3. System Hardening (15%)
- Minimize host OS footprint
- Limit node access
- Use kernel hardening (AppArmor, Seccomp)
- Minimize IAM roles
4. Minimize Microservice Vulnerabilities (20%)
- Security contexts and Pod Security Standards
- Manage Kubernetes secrets
- Container runtime sandboxes (gVisor, Kata)
- Pod-to-pod encryption (mTLS)
5. Supply Chain Security (20%)
- Image footprint minimization
- Whitelist allowed registries
- Sign and verify images
- Static analysis of manifests
- Scan images for vulnerabilities (Trivy)
6. Monitoring, Logging and Runtime Security (20%)
- Behavioral analytics with Falco
- Container immutability
- Audit logs
- Threat detection
Essential Tools to Master
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Falco | Runtime security and threat detection |
| Trivy | Image vulnerability scanning |
| AppArmor | Kernel security module |
| Seccomp | System call filtering |
| OPA/Gatekeeper | Policy enforcement |
| kube-bench | CIS benchmark compliance |
Key Commands
# Check API server audit policy
cat /etc/kubernetes/audit-policy.yaml
# View Falco logs
journalctl -u falco
# Scan image with Trivy
trivy image nginx:latest
# Apply NetworkPolicy
kubectl apply -f deny-all-ingress.yaml
# Check pod security context
kubectl get pod my-pod -o jsonpath='{.spec.securityContext}'Practice CKS Scenarios
Security concepts are best learned through practice. Sailor.sh provides:
- Real clusters with security misconfigurations to fix
- Falco and Trivy pre-installed
- NetworkPolicy scenarios
- RBAC troubleshooting
Start your CKS preparation: Sailor.sh