diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bc1ece7..d421745 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -233,6 +233,7 @@ Kerno tags every finding with pod, namespace, node, and workload labels. No `cli
 - Runs with the **minimum capabilities needed** - `CAP_BPF`, `CAP_PERFMON`, `CAP_SYS_PTRACE`, `CAP_NET_ADMIN`, `CAP_DAC_READ_SEARCH` (not `CAP_SYS_ADMIN` for the hot path).
 - Read-only root filesystem, `ProtectSystem=strict` via systemd on bare metal.
 - No outbound network calls. AI integration is opt-in and goes through your configured provider only.
+- **Opt-in NetworkPolicy**: Limit metrics ingress to Prometheus pods, and allow DNS, K8s API server, and Kubelet egress. (Note: Since Kerno runs with `hostNetwork: true`, standard `NetworkPolicy` resources do not enforce restrictions on it in most mainstream CNIs without host-firewall configuration). See [Helm README](deploy/helm/kerno/README.md).
 
 ### Helm values
 
@@ -253,6 +254,9 @@ serviceMonitor:     # Prometheus Operator
   enabled: true
   interval: 15s
 
+networkPolicy:
+  enabled: false
+
 nodeSelector:
   monitoring: "true"
 ```
diff --git a/deploy/helm/kerno/README.md b/deploy/helm/kerno/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aea2f85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/helm/kerno/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Kerno Helm Chart
+
+Deploys Kerno as a DaemonSet.
+
+## Installation
+
+```bash
+helm install kerno ./deploy/helm/kerno -n kerno-system --create-namespace
+```
+
+## Hardening
+
+Set `networkPolicy.enabled=true` to enable the NetworkPolicy.
+
+> [!WARNING]
+> Since Kerno runs with `hostNetwork: true`, standard Kubernetes `NetworkPolicy` resources are not enforced on it by most mainstream CNIs (like Cilium or Calico) without host-endpoint or host-firewall configuration.
+>
+> If `networkPolicy.enabled` is set to `true`, egress to the Kubernetes API server and Kubelet is blocked by default unless their specific IP CIDR blocks are configured via `networkPolicy.k8sApiServer.cidrs` and `networkPolicy.kubelet.cidrs` respectively.
+
diff --git a/deploy/helm/kerno/templates/networkpolicy.yaml b/deploy/helm/kerno/templates/networkpolicy.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2537722
--- /dev/null
+++ b/deploy/helm/kerno/templates/networkpolicy.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+{{- if .Values.networkPolicy.enabled }}
+apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
+kind: NetworkPolicy
+metadata:
+  name: kerno
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "kerno.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+spec:
+  podSelector:
+    matchLabels:
+      {{- include "kerno.selectorLabels" . | nindent 6 }}
+  policyTypes:
+    - Ingress
+    - Egress
+  ingress:
+    - ports:
+        - protocol: TCP
+          port: {{ .Values.prometheus.port }}
+      {{- if or .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.namespaceSelector .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.podSelector }}
+      from:
+        {{- if .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.namespaceSelector }}
+        - namespaceSelector:
+            {{- toYaml .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.namespaceSelector | nindent 12 }}
+          {{- if .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.podSelector }}
+          podSelector:
+            {{- toYaml .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.podSelector | nindent 12 }}
+          {{- end }}
+        {{- else if .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.podSelector }}
+        - podSelector:
+            {{- toYaml .Values.networkPolicy.prometheus.podSelector | nindent 12 }}
+        {{- end }}
+      {{- end }}
+    {{- if .Values.networkPolicy.additionalIngress }}
+    {{- toYaml .Values.networkPolicy.additionalIngress | nindent 4 }}
+    {{- end }}
+  egress:
+    - ports:
+        - protocol: UDP
+          port: 53
+        - protocol: TCP
+          port: 53
+      to:
+        - namespaceSelector:
+            matchLabels:
+              kubernetes.io/metadata.name: kube-system
+          podSelector:
+            matchLabels:
+              k8s-app: kube-dns
+    {{- if .Values.networkPolicy.k8sApiServer.cidrs }}
+    - ports:
+        {{- range .Values.networkPolicy.k8sApiServer.ports }}
+        - protocol: TCP
+          port: {{ . }}
+        {{- end }}
+      to:
+        {{- range .Values.networkPolicy.k8sApiServer.cidrs }}
+        - ipBlock:
+            cidr: {{ . }}
+        {{- end }}
+    {{- end }}
+    {{- if .Values.networkPolicy.kubelet.cidrs }}
+    - ports:
+        {{- range .Values.networkPolicy.kubelet.ports }}
+        - protocol: TCP
+          port: {{ . }}
+        {{- end }}
+      to:
+        {{- range .Values.networkPolicy.kubelet.cidrs }}
+        - ipBlock:
+            cidr: {{ . }}
+        {{- end }}
+    {{- end }}
+    {{- if .Values.networkPolicy.additionalEgress }}
+    {{- toYaml .Values.networkPolicy.additionalEgress | nindent 4 }}
+    {{- end }}
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/deploy/helm/kerno/values.yaml b/deploy/helm/kerno/values.yaml
index 371ba23..8683c02 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/kerno/values.yaml
+++ b/deploy/helm/kerno/values.yaml
@@ -120,3 +120,31 @@ securityContext:
 # Host path prefix — Kerno mounts host paths under /host/ to avoid conflicts.
 # All pollers read from /host/proc, /host/sys/fs/cgroup, etc.
 hostPathPrefix: /host
+
+# NetworkPolicy configuration.
+# NOTE: Since Kerno runs with 'hostNetwork: true', standard NetworkPolicies
+# do not restrict its traffic in most CNIs without host-firewall configuration.
+networkPolicy:
+  enabled: false
+  prometheus:
+    namespaceSelector:
+      matchLabels:
+        kubernetes.io/metadata.name: monitoring
+    podSelector:
+      matchLabels:
+        app.kubernetes.io/name: prometheus
+  k8sApiServer:
+    ports:
+      - 443
+      - 6443
+    # Target API server CIDRs. If empty, egress is blocked by default.
+    cidrs: []
+  kubelet:
+    ports:
+      - 10250
+      - 10255
+    # Target Kubelet CIDRs. If empty, egress is blocked by default.
+    cidrs: []
+  additionalIngress: []
+  additionalEgress: []
+