There is a method and system that includes establishing a security container that describes a workload and a set of resources that corresponds to the workload in a software-defined environment, determining a set of security criteria for the security container, monitoring the workload and the set of resources for security events based, at least in part, upon the set of security criteria, and responsive to identifying a security event, adjusting one or more security mechanisms. The steps of monitoring and adjusting are operated within the software-defined environment.