Anchore
Container security and compliance platform for scanning container images and software supply chains
Falco
Real-time kernel monitoring for cloud-native Linux security
Falco continuously watches Linux kernel events and container activity, applying customizable rules to detect abnormal behavior and threats, with metadata enrichment for Kubernetes and SIEM integration.
Overview
Overview
Falco is a runtime security agent that monitors Linux kernel syscalls and container events in real time. By applying a flexible, user‑defined rule set, it flags suspicious activity, from privilege escalations to unexpected network connections. The engine enriches alerts with metadata from container runtimes and Kubernetes, enabling precise context for incident response.
Deployment & Extensibility
Falco can be deployed via Helm charts or the falcoctl CLI, fitting seamlessly into cloud‑native pipelines. Collected events can be streamed to SIEMs, data lakes, or processed by external plugins, allowing integration with existing security tooling. The project’s modular repositories—core libraries, official rules, plugins, and deployment charts—support focused development and easy contribution.
Designed for production use, Falco is a CNCF graduated project trusted by many organizations to provide continuous threat detection across bare‑metal, VM, and containerized environments.
Highlights
Kernel syscall monitoring with custom rule engine
Metadata enrichment from container runtimes and Kubernetes
Extensible plugin architecture for external services
Helm charts and falcoctl for easy deployment and management
Pros
- High‑performance, low‑latency detection of kernel events
- Rich rule set with community‑maintained defaults
- Seamless integration with Kubernetes and container ecosystems
- Strong community support and CNCF graduation
Considerations
- Requires Linux kernel compatibility checks before deployment
- Complex rule tuning may be needed for low‑noise alerts
- Static binary builds limit dynamic plugin loading
- C++ codebase can increase contribution barrier for some developers
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Falco, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- Security teams needing real‑time threat detection on Linux workloads
- Organizations running Kubernetes or containerized services
- Teams that want to forward events to SIEM or data lake solutions
- Operators looking for a CNCF‑graduated, production‑ready tool
Not ideal when
- Environments that cannot run kernel modules or eBPF probes
- Users seeking a pure Go implementation without native code
- Deployments with strict static‑binary only policies and no plugin support
- Very small workloads where the overhead of continuous monitoring is unjustified
How teams use it
Detect container escape attempts
Falco alerts when a process inside a container tries to access host resources, enabling immediate containment.
Monitor privileged system calls
Security analysts receive real‑time notifications of suspicious syscalls, such as `execve` of unexpected binaries.
Feed security events to a SIEM
Falco streams enriched alerts to a SIEM platform, supporting correlation with other telemetry.
Enforce compliance policies in Kubernetes
Custom rules validate pod configurations and runtime behavior against regulatory standards.
Tech snapshot
C++83%
CMake8%
C4%
Shell3%
Dockerfile1%
Makefile1%
Frequently asked questions
Why is Falco written in C++ instead of Go?
C++ provides low‑level control, deterministic memory management, and high throughput needed for kernel event processing, which Go's runtime cannot guarantee.
Can Falco run without kernel modules?
Falco supports eBPF and modern BPF probes as alternatives to traditional kernel modules, but some functionality may be limited.
How are plugins loaded?
Plugins are compiled as shared libraries and loaded at runtime; they can extend Falco with custom output sinks or enrichment sources.
Is there a fully static Falco binary?
Yes, Falco provides fully static builds, though static binaries cannot use the dynamic plugin system.
What deployment options are available?
Falco can be installed via Helm charts, the falcoctl CLI, or manually using container images and docker‑compose for demo environments.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 8,588
- Watchers
- 8,588
- Forks
- 977
LicenseApache-2.0
Repo age10 years old
Last commit2 days ago
Primary languageC++
Last synced 12 hours ago