The open-source ecosystem is rich with tools that empower developers and security practitioners alike. Two standout projects are Sysdig OSS and Falco, both of which leverage deep system-level instrumentation to provide insights and enhance security. However, while they share a common foundation, they serve distinct purposes. This blog explores the strengths of Sysdig OSS and Falco, how they differ, and how they can complement each other.
Sysdig OSS: The Swiss army knife of system visibility
Sysdig OSS is a universal system visibility tool designed to provide rich insights into Linux systems, containers, and virtual environments. It does so by instrumenting the Linux kernel, capturing system calls, and recording OS-level events. Think of Sysdig as a combination of powerful tools like strace, tcpdump, and htop, with the added flexibility of a trace file format for capturing and replaying system activity.
Key features of Sysdig OSS
- Universal monitoring: Sysdig supports both physical and virtual machines, making it an excellent choice for hybrid environments.
- Trace file captures: Capture system activity into SCAP files for detailed analysis.
- Intuitive Interfaces:
- sysdig: Command-line tool for system activity monitoring.
- csysdig: A curses-based UI for real-time visualization and exploration.
- Sysdig Inspect: A graphical interface for deep-dive analysis of captured activity, with features like sub-second granularity, metric correlation, and container introspection.
Use cases
- Performance troubleshooting: Isolate bottlenecks using granular system activity data.
- Forensics and analysis: Replay captured system events to understand historical issues or investigate potential breaches.
- Deep container visibility: Gain insight into every byte of data written to files, network connections, or pipes, even within containers.
Falco: Real-time threat detection and response
Falco, a CNCF-graduated project, builds upon the same system call instrumentation as Sysdig but focuses on real-time detection and response. Instead of capturing system activity for later analysis, Falco processes events as they occur, comparing them against a customizable set of security rules, and then takes further automated response actions with Falco Talon.
Key features of Falco
- Real-time detection: Streamlines threat detection without relying on centralized log storage.
- Customizable rules engine: Users can define conditions to identify suspicious behavior, such as unauthorized container activity or anomalous system calls.
- Lightweight monitoring: By analyzing events directly at the kernel level, Falco minimizes latency and overhead.
Use Cases
- Runtime security: Detect suspicious activities, like shell executions in containers or privilege escalations, as they happen
- Compliance monitoring: Ensure adherence to security policies and best practices with real-time alerts
- Automated response: Integrate with tools like falcosidekick to forward alerts and trigger mitigation actions
| Feature | Sysdig OSS | Falco |
| Purpose | Performance monitoring and forensic analysis | Real-time threat detection and response |
| Event Processing | Capture-based, analyzed post-event | Streaming, analyzed in real-time |
| Data Storage | Trace files (SCAP format) | No persistent storage, focuses on streaming |
| Rules | N/A | Customizable rules for detecting anomalies |
| Output | Visual analysis (Sysdig Inspect, Csysdig) | Customizable rules for detecting anomalies |
| Granularity | Sub-second for trace files | Event-level, with Boolean rule conditions |
How they work together
While Sysdig OSS and Falco have distinct foci, they are complementary tools. For example:
- Use Sysdig OSS to capture system activity for forensic analysis after an incident. This is especially useful when the root cause isn’t immediately clear or when detailed context is required.
- Use Falco to establish proactive monitoring and alert on suspicious behaviors as they occur, such as unauthorized access or container misconfigurations.
Together, these tools enable a comprehensive approach to system monitoring and security, combining the depth of post-event analysis with the speed of real-time detection.
Conclusion
Both Sysdig OSS and Falco are powerful open-source tools that address different but complementary needs. While Sysdig OSS excels at capturing and visualizing detailed system activity for troubleshooting and forensics, Falco provides the agility and efficiency needed for real-time threat detection. Whether you’re investigating past incidents or safeguarding your systems against future ones, Sysdig Secure leverages both of these open-source tools to ensure a robust and holistic approach to system security and visibility.
Want to dig deeper? Register for our upcoming Falco Kraken Discovery Lab for hands-on experience with open-source Falco directly in your browser. Alternatively, check out falco.org for upcoming community events about Falco, Sysdig, Stratoshark and more.