Cilium Network Policies have long been a crucial tool for securing network traffic within Kubernetes clusters, enabling developers to manage traffic patterns for their applications and external endpoints. Constantly verifying compliance with these rules for every new application deployment is impractical.

We will explore the often-overlooked Cilium Clusterwide Network Policies, which empower central teams to establish guardrails developers must adhere to. We will delve into the distinctions between Network Policies and Clusterwide Network Policies, and how the latter can enforce enterprise-wide security rules. Key topics include explicit vs. implicit deny rules, the precedence of explicit deny over allow rules, and the advantages of combining these approaches. We will examine RBAC concepts to understand the roles involved in network security enforcement. This session aims to provide insights into leveraging Clusterwide Network Policies to ensure security across Kubernetes environments