diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 89fdf0c8ae..b3431040ff 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ FROM binary-dummy AS containerd-windows
 FROM containerd-${TARGETOS} AS containerd
 
 FROM base AS golangci_lint
-ARG GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION=v1.51.2
+ARG GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION=v1.54.2
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.cache/go-build \
     --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
         GOBIN=/build/ GO111MODULE=on go install "github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/cmd/golangci-lint@${GOLANGCI_LINT_VERSION}" \
diff --git a/daemon/logger/splunk/splunk.go b/daemon/logger/splunk/splunk.go
index eeecfd40e3..4d9a92a429 100644
--- a/daemon/logger/splunk/splunk.go
+++ b/daemon/logger/splunk/splunk.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ const (
 	splunkCANameKey               = "splunk-caname"
 	splunkInsecureSkipVerifyKey   = "splunk-insecureskipverify"
 	splunkFormatKey               = "splunk-format"
-	splunkVerifyConnectionKey     = "splunk-verify-connection"
+	splunkVerifyConnectionKey     = "splunk-verify-connection" // #nosec G101 -- ignoring: Potential hardcoded credentials (gosec)
 	splunkGzipCompressionKey      = "splunk-gzip"
 	splunkGzipCompressionLevelKey = "splunk-gzip-level"
 	splunkIndexAcknowledgment     = "splunk-index-acknowledgment"
diff --git a/hack/validate/golangci-lint.yml b/hack/validate/golangci-lint.yml
index 2832ad7e77..89221ec2da 100644
--- a/hack/validate/golangci-lint.yml
+++ b/hack/validate/golangci-lint.yml
@@ -40,12 +40,11 @@ linters-settings:
   govet:
     check-shadowing: false
   depguard:
-    list-type: blacklist
-    include-go-root: true
-    packages:
-      # The io/ioutil package has been deprecated.
-      # https://go.dev/doc/go1.16#ioutil
-      - io/ioutil
+    rules:
+      main:
+        deny:
+          - pkg: io/ioutil
+            desc: The io/ioutil package has been deprecated, see https://go.dev/doc/go1.16#ioutil
   revive:
     rules:
       # FIXME make sure all packages have a description. Currently, there's many packages without.
diff --git a/testutil/environment/special_images.go b/testutil/environment/special_images.go
index a832cd7c3c..e50efc8743 100644
--- a/testutil/environment/special_images.go
+++ b/testutil/environment/special_images.go
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 package environment
 
-// Graph driver image store identifies images by the ID of their config.
-const DanglingImageIdGraphDriver = "sha256:0df1207206e5288f4a989a2f13d1f5b3c4e70467702c1d5d21dfc9f002b7bd43"
+// DanglingImageIdGraphDriver is the digest for dangling images used
+// in tests when the graph driver is used. The graph driver image store
+// identifies images by the ID of their config.
+const DanglingImageIdGraphDriver = "sha256:0df1207206e5288f4a989a2f13d1f5b3c4e70467702c1d5d21dfc9f002b7bd43" // #nosec G101 -- ignoring: Potential hardcoded credentials (gosec)
 
-// The containerd image store identifies images by the ID of their manifest/manifest list.
-const DanglingImageIdSnapshotter = "sha256:16d365089e5c10e1673ee82ab5bba38ade9b763296ad918bd24b42a1156c5456"
+// DanglingImageIdSnapshotter is the digest for dangling images used in
+// tests when the containerd image store is used. The container image
+// store identifies images by the ID of their manifest/manifest list..
+const DanglingImageIdSnapshotter = "sha256:16d365089e5c10e1673ee82ab5bba38ade9b763296ad918bd24b42a1156c5456" // #nosec G101 -- ignoring: Potential hardcoded credentials (gosec)
 
 func GetTestDanglingImageId(testEnv *Execution) string {
 	if testEnv.UsingSnapshotter() {