Security for Web Developers

Chapter 8. Considering the Use of Microservices

Microservices are a relatively new technology that breaks huge monolithic applications into small components. Each of these small components acts independently and performs just one task well. Because of the technologies that microservices rely on and the way in which they’re employed, microservices tend to provide better security than some of the other technologies described so far in the book. However, just like any other technology, microservices do present opportunities for hackers to cause problems. It’s important to remember that any technology has gaps that hackers will exploit to accomplish tasks. The goal of the developer is to minimize these gaps and then ensure as many safeguards as possible are in place to help in the monitoring process.

Because microservices are so new, the chapter begins by spending a little more than the usual time explaining them. This book doesn’t provide you with a complete look at microservices, but you should have enough information to understand the security implications of using microservices, rather than older technologies you used in the past. In addition, it’s important to consider the role that people will play in this case. A hostile attitude toward microservice deployment can actually cause security issues that you need to consider during the development stage.

The chapter discusses how you might create a microservice of your own (but doesn’t actually provide source code because this is ...