Ian Coldwater | |
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![]() Ian Coldwater | |
Occupation(s) | Computer security specialist and speaker |
Employer | Docker, Inc.[1] |
Organization(s) | Kubernetes SIG Security, Open Source Security Foundation |
Ian Coldwater is an American computer security specialist, hacker, and speaker specializing in Kubernetes and cloud native security.[2][3] They are a Senior Principal Security Architect at Docker, Inc.,[1][4] and co-chair the Kubernetes special interest group Kubernetes SIG Security.[5][6][7]
Coldwater started working in tech in their thirties, starting in DevOps before focusing on security.[8] They began specializing in hacking and hardening Kubernetes containers, working as an independent penetration tester before joining Heroku as a lead platform security engineer.[8][9] From 2020 to 2023, they worked as a security architect at Twilio.[10][11] As of 2 April 2024, they work as a Senior Principal Security Architect at Docker, Inc.
Along with Tabitha Sable, they co-chair the Kubernetes special interest group, Kubernetes SIG Security.[5][6] They are also on the governing board of the Open Source Security Foundation.[12]
Coldwater has spoken at conferences including DEF CON,[13] Black Hat,[14] KubeCon and CloudNativeCon,[7] RSA Conference,[15] Velocity,[16] and devopsdays.[17][18] In 2020, they received the Top Ambassador award from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation for spreading interest in the area.[18]
Hacking Kubernetes, published by O'Reilly Media, credits Coldwater and Duffie Cooley for co-developing the "canonical offensive Kubernetes one-liner".[19] In 2020, Coldwater and Brad Geesaman presented a talk at RSA 2020 titled "Advanced Persistence Threats – The Future of Kubernetes Attacks",[20] in which they demonstrated bypassing Kubernetes audit logs and other attacks.[19] In 2021, Coldwater, with expertise from Chad Rikansrud, became the first person in history to escape a container on a mainframe.[13][21]
Coldwater lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[15] Politically, they identify as an anarchist.[22] Coldwater is non-binary, and uses they/them pronouns.[23]