Kafka Security Track • 2025 Edition

Apache Kafka Series: Complete Kafka Security on Azure with TLS, Kerberos, ACLs 2025

Harden Kafka on Azure with TLS, Kerberos, SASL, ACLs, and governance workflows that satisfy enterprise security teams and auditors. Build on the shared lab to deliver a compliant, production-ready security posture.

9 modules20–24 hours of guided labsTLS, SASL, Kerberos deep divesGovernance & auditing assets

Course Description

Security Hardening Blueprint for Azure Kafka Clusters

Learn how to secure every layer of your Kafka deployment—from TLS and SASL to ACL governance and ZooKeeper hardening—while producing audit-ready artifacts for compliance stakeholders.

Provision a shared Azure lab that mirrors production Kafka topologies.

Encrypt Kafka and ZooKeeper traffic end-to-end using SSL/TLS.

Authenticate users and services via SASL/PLAIN, SASL/SCRAM, and Kerberos.

Authorize operations with Kafka ACLs aligned to governance workflows.

Secure ZooKeeper and protect metadata, SCRAM secrets, and quorum communication.

Automate certificate lifecycle, secret storage, and compliance controls.

Operate and troubleshoot enterprise Kafka security postures.

Who Should Enroll

Designed for Security-Focused Teams

Security engineers responsible for Kafka encryption, authentication, and authorization.

Platform architects aligning Kafka with enterprise IAM, PKI, and governance frameworks.

DevOps teams extending the administration lab to production-grade security.

Compliance, audit, and risk stakeholders validating Kafka controls and evidence.

Course Modules

Security Hardening Curriculum

Every module layers security controls on top of the shared lab. Guided labs, scripts, and checklists ensure your Kafka environment meets enterprise requirements.

2–3 hours

Module 1: Prerequisites, Planning & Environment Setup

Azure lab plan validated with security prerequisites and tooling in place.

Security-first roadmap, deliverables, and threat model primer

Azure subscription, budgeting, and DNS planning for certificates

Local tooling verification for Terraform, Azure CLI, OpenSSL, and SSH

1–2 hours

Module 2: Infrastructure Deployment (Terraform)

Security-ready Azure infrastructure provisioned via Terraform.

Shared VNet, NSGs, and VM deployments tailored for secure operations

Naming conventions supporting certificate SAN and ACL scopes

Validation scripts to confirm lab provisioning

3–4 hours

Module 3: Kafka & ZooKeeper Installation

Baseline Kafka cluster running and ready for security hardening.

Install Kafka 3.6.0 and ZooKeeper 3.8.4 with security-aware defaults

Prepare brokers for TLS listener expansion and SASL integration

Utility node setup for CA, Kerberos, and monitoring services

3–4 hours

Module 4: SSL/TLS Encryption

Internal CA, certificates, and encrypted Kafka/ZooKeeper listeners.

Generate CA hierarchy, broker/client certificates, and SAN planning

Enable TLS on inter-broker, client listeners, and ZooKeeper quorum

Execute smoke tests and validation scripts for encrypted channels

3–4 hours

Module 5: SASL Authentication

SASL/PLAIN, SASL/SCRAM, and Kerberos authentication in place.

Configure JAAS files, credentials, and policy automation scripts

Stand up MIT Kerberos KDC, keytabs, and client enrollment labs

Validate multi-mechanism authentication with redundancy planning

2–3 hours

Module 6: SSL + SASL Combined / mTLS

Mutual TLS and multi-listener architectures for hybrid use cases.

Layer SASL over TLS and implement SASL_SSL listeners

Design client certificate auth patterns across internal/external workloads

Support legacy compatibility while maintaining secure defaults

3–4 hours

Module 7: Authorization with ACLs

Governance-ready ACL frameworks with auditing playbooks.

Authorizer configuration, super-user design, and role patterns

Git-backed ACL policy management and promotion workflows

Auditing command bundles for compliance evidence

2–3 hours

Module 8: ZooKeeper Security

ZooKeeper protected with TLS, SASL/DIGEST, and ensemble hardening.

Enable TLS and SASL between Kafka and ZooKeeper

Secure quorum communication, secrets, and dynamic reconfiguration

Integrate monitoring hooks and alert coverage for ZooKeeper security

3–4 hours

Module 9: Advanced Security Topics

Operations, rotation, and compliance pipelines for long-term governance.

Disk encryption strategies, Azure Key Vault integration, and secret rotation

Certificate lifecycle automation with renewal playbooks

Auditing, reporting, and evidence packaging for enterprise risk teams

Shared Lab Architecture

Reinforce the Same Azure Lab with Security Controls

The security track reuses the Terraform lab from the administration course—three brokers, three ZooKeeper nodes, and a utility node hosting CA, Kerberos, and monitoring services. You layer encryption, authentication, and authorization over this footprint.

Internal CA built with OpenSSL and keytool for certificate automation.
MIT Kerberos KDC, JAAS templates, and keytab distribution utilities.
Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, Node Exporter, JMX Exporter, and security monitoring.
Azure Key Vault integrations, managed disks, and NSG policies for secure network access.

Outcomes & Deliverables

Security Artifacts You Can Trust

End-to-end TLS, SASL, and Kerberos enforcement across brokers, clients, and ZooKeeper.

mTLS and multi-listener architectures supporting hybrid and legacy consumers.

ACL governance templates, auditing bundles, and Git-backed change control.

Azure Key Vault integrations, certificate rotation workflows, and compliance reports.

Capture certificate inventories, ACL matrices, verification scripts, and compliance-ready evidence as you progress through the labs.

Prerequisites

Confirmed Baseline Before You Harden Kafka

Modules 1–3 ensure your skills, accounts, and tooling are aligned before enabling TLS, SASL, ACLs, and Kerberos across the environment.

Completion of or familiarity with the administration track lab environment.
Azure subscription access with governance guardrails and budget awareness.
Working knowledge of Kafka fundamentals, Terraform, Azure CLI, and SSH tooling.

Investment & Budget

Plan for Security-Oriented Azure Costs

Use the development lab estimate as a shared baseline. Bake in certificate rotation, Key Vault, and backup solutions when forecasting production spend.

Development lab baseline: ≈ $85/month (shared across administration and security tracks).
Production-ready security posture: ≈ $300–500/month with premium disks and redundancy.
Factor in certificate rotation automation, backup, and DR workloads for regulated environments.

Ready to Harden Kafka?

Deliver Enterprise-Grade Kafka Security on Azure

Layer encryption, authentication, authorization, and governance in a single track. Download the scripts and evidence you need to satisfy security, compliance, and audit stakeholders.

Complete the Series

Pair With Administration for End-to-End Mastery

Use the same Azure lab and Terraform codebase from the administration course. Layer security controls, validate every listener, and ship production-ready Kafka clusters.