Black Forest Shadow 2.0: The Shadow Returns
On Friday the 13th of March 2026, I published Black Forest Shadow, a dark fantasy story set in the Black Forest of 1865, where Docker and Kubernetes security lessons hide among shadows, monsters, and questionable decisio
On Friday the 13th of March 2026, I published Black Forest Shadow, a dark fantasy story set in the Black Forest of 1865, where Docker and Kubernetes security lessons hide among shadows, monsters, and questionable decisions.
Now, the Shadow returns. In full color. π
The second edition, v2.0.0, is out today, Friday, November 13, 2026. Mr. Voorhees would be proud.
The Shadow Returns
The book started as a 24-day Advent series. I then added seven chapters to finish the story and published the first edition, as I wrote in Docker Security Dispatch 1.
The idea was to make security problems accessible. A forged letter, an unreliable bridge, a stranger carrying suspicious cargo: these are things our protagonists, Gord and RothΓΌtle, have to deal with before anyone gets to the technical explanation.
For this edition, I wanted to give the world more room and bring the security commentary forward to November 2026. The forest still lives in 1865. Unfortunately, the malware authors haven't agreed to stay there.
What's New in v2.0.0?
The original was 143 pages. The second edition runs to 194 pagesβ51 more pages, or roughly a third larger. The added pages are mostly due to the extended technical commentary. The technical content have been updated with the newest advances in container security, including Docker Sandboxes, the Security Immediate Plan (SIP), and the 2026 Miasma/Phantom Gyp campaigns and TanStack compromise.
For more information on SIP, check the blog post SIP: An Immediate Supply-Chain Plan.
All the images from the first edition have been re-generated. The paperback edition is printed in full color, in contrast to the first edition's black-and-white printing. We also have three new DLCs (bonus stories) that explore Evie's origin, the first events after Angra's escape, and Gord's first encounter with the Divine Council.
We also welcome a new reviewer for the second edition: Catherine Edelveis. Catherine and I also co-authored the SIP: Security Immediate Plan for Java:
I've also revised the AI chapter around Docker Sandboxes and agent isolation: deny-by-default networking, limited workspace access, credential handling, and the ability to stop an agent. Giving it a polite instruction is still not an access-control policy. For a separate walkthrough, see my Docker Sandbox Kits tutorial.
The supply-chain chapters cover the 2026 Miasma/Phantom Gyp campaigns and TanStack compromise, dependency cooldowns, and why valid provenance can accompany a malicious release. The book connects these cases to controls rather than just collecting incident names; my supply-chain worm taxonomy provides the longer background.
Other updates include Docker Hardened Images, SBOM coverage of build stages, and release gates tied to immutable image digests. The examples connect those checks to the artifact you actually ship.
The Story Continues: Three New DLCs
The new Part IV is called DLCs. Yes, the book has DLCs. They're included in the book. You don't need a season pass.
- The Paper BadgeβEvie's Origin takes us to Texas in 1865, where a gang claims authority through forged papers and a sheriff's badge. Its companion section moves from checking that authority to signing and verifying container images with Cosign.
- The Whispering Jar returns to Gord and RothΓΌtle in Freiburg, where a fresh batch of coffee brings an unwelcome extra. The security lesson follows dependencies across ecosystem boundaries, including JavaScript packages repackaged as JARs. Yes, JavaScript, and it's not a typo.
- The Council's Call brings Gord before the Divine Council and opens a wider mission. Its companion section explores the shared linguistic roots of the gods' names. This one is mythology, not a disguised Kubernetes tutorial.
These stories reach backward into Evie's past and forward beyond the main journey. They give the characters more history and the world more possibilities without replacing the original adventure.
Get the Second Edition
Black Forest Shadow: A Dark Fantasy Guide to Docker and Kubernetes Security, by Mohammad-Ali A'rΓ’bi. Published by Okterakt Verlag, November 13, 2026, second edition v2.0.0, ISBN 978-3-9828298-6-9.
Get the second edition on Amazon, visit the book's product page, or browse the shop. Check the edition and ISBN when ordering.
Welcome back to the forest. β
Originally published by Dev.to Security. Aggregated on AIWithGhost for educational purposes β full credit and traffic to the original publisher.