Federated search security

Apply these security best practices for authentication, authorization, network security, and monitoring in a federated search deployment.

Authentication

• Use dedicated service accounts for federated search.
• Rotate passwords regularly. See Rotate the service account password.
• Consider using certificate-based authentication.
• Store credentials in Kubernetes Secrets, not in plain text.

Authorization

• Grant the minimum required index permissions.
• Use role-based access control (RBAC).
• Audit federated search access logs.
• Restrict federated providers to specific roles.

Network security

• Use HTTPS for all connections.
• Implement network policies in Kubernetes.
• Use private endpoints when possible.
• Turn on SSL certificate validation in production.

Monitoring

• Monitor federated search performance.
• Track authentication failures.
• Alert on unusual access patterns.
• Review audit logs regularly.