Minimus Aims to Rewrite Container Security with Proactive, ‘Distroless’ Approach

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – November 10, 2025 – Minimus, a newly recognized CRN Stellar Startup, is challenging conventional wisdom in container security with a radical approach: preventing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Founded by the team behind the successful container security platform Twistlock, the company is betting on a “distroless” image strategy to dramatically reduce the attack surface and break the endless cycle of vulnerability detection and patching.

While many security vendors focus on scanning and remediating vulnerabilities after they’ve been identified, Minimus takes a fundamentally different tack. They build minimal container and VM images from scratch, directly from upstream sources, including only the software necessary to run the application. This approach significantly reduces the potential attack surface and limits the accumulation of vulnerabilities, aiming for over 95% reduction in Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs).

“The traditional approach to container security is reactive, constantly chasing the latest vulnerabilities,” explains a security architect familiar with the Minimus platform. “That’s like trying to bail water out of a sinking boat without fixing the leak. Minimus is focused on fixing the leak in the first place.”

From Twistlock to a New Vision

The roots of Minimus run deep in the container security landscape. Ben Bernstein, Dima Stopel, and John Morello, the founders of Minimus, previously built and led Twistlock, a pioneering cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019. The acquisition demonstrated the value of early container security innovation, but the founders saw an opportunity to further refine the approach.

“After building and scaling Twistlock, we realized that while detection and response are important, they’re often a losing battle,” shares a source close to the founding team. “The volume of vulnerabilities is constantly increasing, and organizations are struggling to keep up. We wanted to build something that would fundamentally change the game.”

This led to the development of Minimus, which leverages the lessons learned from Twistlock but applies a more proactive and preventative approach. The team’s experience in building a successful CWPP gives them a significant advantage in navigating the complex container security market.

The ‘Distroless’ Advantage

The core of Minimus’s technology is its “distroless” image building process. Traditional container images often include a complete operating system, a package manager, shells, and other non-essential components. This bloat adds unnecessary complexity and significantly expands the attack surface.

Minimus’s approach eliminates all of this unnecessary baggage. The resulting images are incredibly lean and contain only the runtime dependencies required for the application to function. This drastically reduces the potential for vulnerabilities and simplifies the security posture.

“By removing all unnecessary components, we’ve significantly reduced the attack surface and limited the opportunities for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities,” says a Minimus engineer. “It’s a simple concept, but it has a huge impact on security.”

The company’s technology automatically rebuilds images daily with the latest package updates, ensuring they stay current with security patches. Minimus also integrates threat intelligence from multiple sources to prioritize updates based on real-world exploitability.

Navigating a Competitive Landscape

The container security market is crowded and competitive, with established players like Aqua Security, Sysdig, and Palo Alto Networks (with its Prisma Cloud platform) vying for market share. The projected market size will reach between $11.13 billion by 2032 and $25.51 billion by 2034. However, Minimus believes its proactive approach sets it apart.

“Many vendors are focused on detecting and responding to threats after they’ve already occurred,” explains a market analyst following the container security space. “Minimus is taking a different approach, focusing on preventing vulnerabilities from ever making it into production.”

The company’s lean, “distroless” images also offer performance benefits, as they require less storage space and reduce the overhead associated with running a full operating system. This can be particularly important for organizations running large-scale containerized applications.

The Future of Container Security?

Minimus’s success will depend on its ability to scale its technology and gain traction in a crowded market. However, the company’s proactive approach and experienced team position it well to disrupt the container security landscape.

“We’re seeing a growing demand for preventative security solutions,” says a cybersecurity consultant working with several enterprise clients. “Organizations are realizing that they can’t just keep playing whack-a-mole with vulnerabilities. They need to proactively reduce their attack surface and make it more difficult for attackers to succeed.”

Minimus’s technology offers a compelling alternative to traditional vulnerability management, potentially paving the way for a new era of proactive container security. By focusing on prevention rather than detection, the company aims to shift the balance of power in the ongoing battle against cyber threats.