Healthcare providers are turning to rapid-development cloud applications and security to optimize their healthcare and business operations. The race for better security and performance has led developers from on-prem servers to cloud infrastructure to containers, including the well-known container orchestration platform Kubernetes.
In this article, we introduce Kubernetes, how it works, and how it applies to different professional scenarios.
What is Kubernetes?
To understand Kubernetes, you must understand containers.
Applications have evolved over the decades. What once were local executables on dedicated machines have quickly become distributed online Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or more advanced cloud applications. Distributed or service use means that these applications are being run remotely, and often by numerous users at the same time.
This can, understandably, create huge problems across several areas. First, it is difficult to secure applications that share server real estate with other application instances. Secondly, having dedicated applications running on shared server resources can hinder performance. Thirdly, limitations in both security and resource allocation limit the scalability of these applications.
A stopgap solution was virtualization. By loading virtual machines, you can leverage CPU processing power to create isolated instances for each application. These also helped with performance; as applications run in VMs, resources are easier to isolate and, therefore, optimize. However, VMs aren’t necessarily optimal in that, while better than server apps, they still came with challenges–namely, in limited performance scaling and difficult file sharing between the OS and the VM.
Enter containers. A container can be thought of as a lightweight VM that addresses some of the limitations of virtualization. These benefits include:
- Portability: You can run app instances and testing runs on any OS you want, including most distributions of Linux, Windows or many cloud platforms.
- Streamline Microservice Development: With containers, you can roll out and deploy container images as you make changes to the application much more efficiently than a VM.
- Optimize Performance: As there are less strict barriers between the container and the OS, you can optimize your app performance through shared files, better hardware usage or rapid scaling.
- Automate Deployment: Containers are easy to deploy, refresh, update and re-deploy as per the needs of your development cycle.
Kubernetes, however, is not a container service. Instead, Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform. By managing resources, automation triggers and inter-container relationships, Kubernetes allows developers to create a container environment that can run several, interrelated micro-services that build into larger public applications. With containerized services, developers can rapidly roll out updates and changes in a modular fashion without relying too heavily on monolithic app versioning.
How is Kubernetes Used in Healthcare?
Large SaaS and cloud applications are becoming the norm in healthcare scenarios, and major cloud providers, particularly Microsoft Azure, are making a hard sell into the healthcare industry. Cloud platforms can allow any organization to use features like automation, AI, business analytics and organization-wide data access to drive innovation and optimization from day-to-day clerical and insurance tasks to high-level medical treatment and diagnosis. As such, developers are turning to services like Kubernetes to build large-scale healthcare apps.
The truth is that app development in healthcare is increasingly calling for rapid innovation and business resiliency (and, in most cases, continuity). That means low downtime, high performance and high accessibility.
Containers orchestrated with Kubernetes provide a platform for healthcare app developers to rapidly create, launch and iterate applications over time. Furthermore, container orchestration provides a high level of transparency, where administrators can better understand what’s happening in a development cycle.
Finally, container orchestration can support cybersecurity for apps and microservices. As apps are deployed, old instances are destroyed. That means that containers containing malware or other problematic control can be removed from service relatively easily. Additionally, Kubernetes helps you apply security patches and remediation across an entire slate of services.
What Are Some Steps to Take to Make Kubernetes HIPAA Compliant?
While Kubernetes comes with several advantages that benefit developers and healthcare users, it’s obviously still critical that containerized apps comply with HIPAA regulations.
Some steps you can take or consider to guarantee HIPAA compliance are:
- Knowing Your Data: As your containerized apps pass data internally or externally, then it’s important to know where that data is, where it’s been, and who has access to it. A properly configured Kubernetes system can support orchestrating data such that it always stays within compliance.
- Configuring Access Controls: Each container should follow principles of least privilege and, if helpful, zero-trust architecture. Furthermore, fine-grained access controls like Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) can ensure that only authorized providers can access patient data.
- Encrypting Data: Kubernetes, with the right modules, will allow you to encrypt data and containers through at-rest encryption. HIPAA requires encryption for all patient data, so having encrypted containers for applications taking patient data is key for compliance.
- Backing Up Containers: Regular and cloud systems all require backups for HIPAA compliance. Containers are no different and should have a backup automation solution in place.
- Implementing Scanning: You can, and should, scan your container systems that contain patient data to ensure that vulnerabilities are being proactively addressed.
Security and Compliance with Kubernetes
Kubernetes is secure, but it isn’t compliant by default. That means that if your organization wants to develop agile and flexible apps for healthcare customers, you will need someone to help you configure your systems for HIPAA compliance.
Don’t trust out-of-the-box solutions as your compliance strategy. Work with security experts like Lazarus Alliance who have decades of collective experience with HIPAA compliance. We can help you understand your Kubernetes system and how it fits into HIPAA requirements overall.
If your organization is interested in proactive cybersecurity and compliance, call 1-888-896-7580 to discuss your organization’s compliance needs.
What Is Autonomous Malware?
We’re reaching the end of 2025, and looking ahead to 2026, most experts are discussing the latest threats that will shape the year ahead. This year, we’re seeing a new, but not unexpected, shift to autonomous threats driven by state-sponsored actors and AI. With that in mind, a new generation of threats, broadly known as...Continue reading→
What CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-01 Means for Everyone
In mid-October 2025, the CISA issued one of its most urgent orders yet: Emergency Directive 26-01. The directive calls on all Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to immediately mitigate vulnerabilities in devices from F5 Networks following a state-sponsored breach of F5’s systems and access to portions of BIG-IP source code and vulnerability data. The event...Continue reading→
Cybersecurity and Vetting AI-Powered Tools
A recent exploit involving a new AI-focused browser shone a light on a critical problem–namely, that browser security is a constant issue, and AI is just making that threat more pronounced. Attackers discovered a way to use that browser’s memory features to implant hidden instructions inside an AI assistant. Once stored, those instructions triggered unwanted...Continue reading→
Shutdown Security And Cyber Vulnerability
When the federal government shuts down, the public sees closed monuments, unpaid workers, and halted programs. What they do not see is the silent surge of cyberattacks targeting agencies already operating on fumes. During the most recent shutdown, attacks against U.S. government systems spiked by nearly 85%. Cybersecurity failures during government disruptions rarely start with...Continue reading→
Identity and the Shift from Malware
The world of cyber threats is rapidly evolving, and while we can see these changes more generally, it’s always crucial to understand them concretely. As the 2025 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report shows us, the landscape of our industry is changing. We’re digging into this report to discuss a challenging trend: the move of hackers foregoing...Continue reading→
Maintaining Compliance Against Prompt Injection Attacks
The increasing adoption of AI by businesses introduces security risks that current cybersecurity frameworks are not prepared to address. A particularly complex emerging threat is prompt injection attacks. These attacks manipulate the integrity of large language models and other AI systems, potentially compromising security protocols and legal compliance. Organizations adopting AI must have a plan...Continue reading→
Are We Already Talking About CMMC 3.0?
The ink has barely dried on the CMMC final rule, and already the defense contracting community is buzzing with speculation about what comes next. Just when contractors thought they had a moment to catch their breath after years of regulatory limbo, whispers of CMMC 3.0 have begun circulating through the industry. But is this just...Continue reading→
Centralizing Identity-Based Risk
As the traditional network boundary dissolves and remote work becomes standard practice, identities are the major frontier for security. Whether we’re talking about human users, service accounts, or machine identities, these have emerged as both the primary access mechanism and the most targeted attack vector. It has become imperative for providers to centralize identity management...Continue reading→
Deviation and Significant Change Requests in FedRAMP: A Comprehensive Guide
FedRAMP provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services used by federal agencies. While the program’s rigorous baseline requirements ensure consistent security, the reality is that this consistency calls for a little flexibility. This is where deviation requests and significant change requests come into play. These two...Continue reading→
The Costs of Compliance and Data Breaches
Data is possibly one of the most valuable assets any organization holds. Customer information, employee records, and proprietary business intelligence present challenges because the data flowing through modern enterprises represents both significant opportunities and serious risks. Businesses face a challenging balance: investing in compliance measures to protect sensitive information while also preparing for the real...Continue reading→
Related Posts