How Falco Brought Real-Time Observability to Infrastructure
Dec 26, 2024
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Leonardo Grasso, Open Source Tech Lead Manager at Sysdig and a core maintainer of Falco, dives into the evolution of this innovative open-source runtime observability tool. The discussion highlights Falco’s integration with eBPF technology, enabling real-time event monitoring from the kernel. Grasso reveals the journey of Falco from its early days to its recent graduation from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. He also discusses Falco Talon, a no-code response engine that enhances security automation, making runtime security more efficient than ever.
Falco utilizes eBPF technology to enhance real-time observability and security in cloud-native infrastructures by collecting kernel events.
The introduction of Falco Talon provided a no-code response engine, enabling real-time automated actions in response to security alerts.
Deep dives
Overview of Falco and Its Purpose
Falco is an open-source cloud-native security runtime designed to monitor and secure cloud infrastructures by detecting suspicious events in real time. Developed by Sysdig, Falco aims to address the gap in security monitoring post-deployment, where traditional methods focus primarily on static code analysis. It operates by collecting system events directly from the kernel and uses context such as pod names and namespaces to enrich this data, enabling it to identify anomalous behaviors. This proactive approach distinguishes Falco from other security tools that rely solely on pre-deployment vulnerability scans.
Technological Advancements and Integration with Kubernetes
Falco utilizes advanced technologies such as eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter) to interact safely with the Linux kernel, enhancing both security and installation simplicity. This shift to eBPF has streamlined user experiences, making implementations less complex compared to older kernel modules. Since its inception, Falco has maintained compatibility with Kubernetes, evolving its features and support to keep pace with changes in cloud-native architectures. Recent upgrades include improved scalability and enhanced plugin systems that now allow for the ingestion of various event types, thereby extending the tool's monitoring capabilities.
Community Engagement and Future Directions
The repository of Falco continues to grow with key developments focusing on extending its core functionalities and enhancing the ecosystem with new plugins and a rule customization engine. By introducing projects like Falco Talon, a no-code response engine, the team aims to empower users to automate reactions to detected security incidents. Community participation is highly encouraged, with open channels available for discussions, feedback, and collaborative developments. Falco’s success is underscored by a vibrant user community that shares their experiences and contributions, reinforcing the project's commitment to open-source principles.
Falco, an open-source runtime observability and security tool, was created by Sysdig founder Loris Degioanni to collect real-time system events directly from the kernel. Leveraging eBPF technology for improved safety and performance, Falco gathers data like pod names and namespaces, correlating them with customizable rules. Unlike static analysis tools, it operates in real-time, monitoring events as they occur. In this episode of The New Stack Makers, TNS Editor-in-Chief, Heather Joslyn spoke with Thomas Labarussias, Senior Developer Advocate at Sysdig, Leonardo Grasso, Open Source Tech Lead Manager at Sysdig and Luca Guerra, Sr. Open Source Engineer at Sysdig to get the latest update on Falco.
Graduating from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in February 2023 after entering its sandbox six years prior, Falco’s maintainers have focused on technical maturity and broad usability. This includes simplifying installations across diverse environments, thanks in part to advancements from the Linux Foundation.
Looking ahead, the team is enhancing core functionalities, including more customizable rules and alert formats. A key innovation is Falco Talon, introduced in September 2023, which provides a no-code response engine to link alerts with real-time remediation actions. Talon addresses a longstanding gap in automating responses within the Falco ecosystem, advancing its capabilities for runtime security.