Agentless vs agent-based security: Strength in synergy
While the more venerable agent-based security approach generally works by having an actively running process on your server nodes, this can be a bit “heavy” in terms of monitoring requirements e.g., commodity-level cloud nodes, embedded computing, IoT devices, and microservices applications. Agentless security operates without requiring software agents on individual systems. Instead, it leverages the power of cloud-native technologies like APIs, cloud logs, and snapshotting to monitor and protect infrastructure. This makes it particularly appealing for environments where rapid deployment and scalability are essential.
Agentless vs agent-based security: Strength in synergy
What you'll learn
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The advantages and disadvantages of an agentless vs. agent-based approach
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Which environments are best suited for each approach
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The importance of using agentless and agent-based security together
Why (not) go agentless?
Consider a scenario where a company begins its cloud journey. They might use an agentless solution to quickly set up IAM roles and start monitoring misconfigurations. Within hours, they can ensure compliance across accounts without disrupting ongoing workflows. This ease of deployment is unmatched, making agentless security a great entry point for cloud security efforts.
Key benefits of agentless security include:
- Rapid deployment: Setting up an agentless tool often requires just a few clicks to configure permissions.
- Broad applicability: These solutions are designed to cover multi-cloud and hybrid environments, providing immediate insights into potential risks.
- Posture management focus: Agentless tools shine in identifying misconfigurations and maintaining compliance with minimal overhead.
By enabling security teams to “shift left” during development, agentless security ensures vulnerabilities are identified early, setting the stage for a stronger overall security posture. In practice, however, the details matter – bear in mind that the UNIX/Linux kernel is basically also the system’s TCP/IP packet switch and firewall. Monitoring solutions (such as the Sysdig agent) which make use of kernel modules such as eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter) are effectively getting a bunch of the agent’s functionality “for free”, computationally speaking, in that most of their functionality consists of access to activities already ongoing on in the system, using the kernel’s own low-level access to do so, effectively recycling existing ongoing processes for remarkably little extra overhead. The instrumentation of these solutions also enable real-time monitoring and threat detection that is not possible with agentless.
Agentless vs. agent-based security: “Buddy cops” in your security team
Agentless and agent-based security methods address different facets of cloud protection, and their combined use amplifies their effectiveness. Think of them as complementary lenses: one providing a wide-angle view, the other offering a zoomed-in focus.
Agentless security is most effective during early development stages or for maintaining baseline posture management. For example, it might detect a misconfigured storage bucket or flag an overly permissive IAM policy. On the other hand, agent-based security steps in during runtime, monitoring active processes and reacting in real time to potential threats like unauthorized access or malware. Using agentless checking as a backup to your runtime agents’ functions is also a valid choice, in the spirit of the defense-in-depth security approach.
The two approaches are not mutually exclusive but synergistic:
- Agentless for configuration monitoring: It offers a fast and scalable method to oversee multiple accounts and prevent drift.
- Agent-based for runtime threats: Detailed insights into system-level activity allow for precise threat detection and response.
By integrating these approaches, organizations can create a seamless security framework that adapts to both static and dynamic challenges.
Advantages of agent-based security
Agent-based security excels in environments that require real-time monitoring and detailed control over workloads. By installing directly on systems, agents offer a level of visibility and interactivity unmatched by agentless methods. This capability is crucial for detecting advanced threats and ensuring compliance in high-stakes scenarios. Agent-based security’s strengths ultimately lie in its depth and precision, making it indispensable for environments where granular control and real-time action are critical.
Real-time visibility into system-level activity
Agents provide live monitoring of workloads, capturing detailed data about processes, files, and network activity. This depth enables organizations to detect threats like unauthorized file access, privilege escalation, or unusual process behavior as they happen.
Proactive security measures
With direct integration into workloads, agent-based tools enforce predefined security policies and actively block malicious activities. This ability to respond autonomously ensures threats are neutralized before they escalate.
Regulatory compliance support
Agent-based solutions offer the logging and monitoring required to meet rigorous compliance standards, such as HIPAA and PCI DSS. Their detailed reporting capabilities streamline audits and reduce the risk of penalties for non-compliance.
Disadvantages of agent-based security
While powerful, agent-based security has limitations that must be considered when designing a comprehensive security strategy. These challenges are particularly evident in dynamic or resource-constrained environments.
- Resource consumption: Agents require local resources, including CPU and memory, to operate. In performance-sensitive workloads, this overhead can theoretically create bottlenecks in high-load situations, impacting application efficiency.
- Complexity in deployment and management: Managing agents across diverse and ephemeral infrastructures, such as containerized or serverless workloads, is operationally demanding. Frequent updates and compatibility challenges further complicate their deployment.
- Scalability limitations in transient environments: In dynamic cloud environments with rapidly changing workloads, such as serverless functions, deploying agents may not be feasible. Their static nature can create coverage gaps where transient resources are unprotected.
Despite these drawbacks, agent-based solutions remain valuable for targeted applications where their depth and granularity are essential.
Advantages of agentless security
Agentless security is the entry point for many organizations’ cloud security strategies. By leveraging APIs, cloud logs, and other external mechanisms, it provides a lightweight, scalable way to monitor configurations and maintain posture without affecting performance. Agentless security’s ease of deployment and breadth of coverage make it an attractive choice for foundational posture management, particularly in the early stages of cloud adoption.
Simple deployment and scalability
Setting up agentless solutions is straightforward, often requiring little more than assigning IAM roles and permissions. This simplicity makes them ideal for large, complex infrastructures with multi-cloud setups.
No performance impact on workloads
Agentless tools operate outside the workload itself, “reusing” cloud API snapshotting tools to effectively work on completely separate instances based on backup snapshots, meaning they impose virtually no resource burden on the systems they monitor. This feature is critical for maintaining application performance in resource-intensive environments.
Ideal for multi-cloud environments
Agentless security is inherently designed for breadth, making it effective for organizations managing assets across multiple cloud providers. It provides visibility across accounts without the need for invasive integrations.
Disadvantages of agentless security
Although agentless security offers convenience and scalability, it also has limitations:
- Latency in detection and response: Agentless tools often rely on periodic scans or log parsing, which can delay threat detection and mitigation. This latency makes them unsuitable for real-time protection.
- Reduced context and granularity: Because they lack system-level integration, agentless tools cannot provide the detailed visibility needed to detect complex or subtle threats, such as insider attacks or advanced persistent threats.
- Runtime security gaps: Agentless solutions struggle in dynamic, runtime scenarios where real-time insights and immediate action are necessary. Their reliance on external data sources limits their ability to respond effectively.
Despite these limitations, agentless security serves as a strong starting point for organizations, complementing agent-based tools to create a stronger security posture.
Weighing the pros and cons
This side-by-side comparison illustrates the synergy and complementary nature of these approaches:
Feature | Agent-Based Security | Agentless Security |
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Deployment | ✅ Deep integration with workloads. ❌ Requires installation and setup on each system. | ✅ Quick and easy setup using APIs and IAM roles. ❌ Limited depth in configuration. |
Performance impact | ❌ Monitoring agent resource usage can affect workload performance increasingly negatively under high workload conditions. | ✅ No performance impact since it operates externally. The load produced by monitoring requests is considered negligible. |
Real-time monitoring | ✅ Offers immediate detection and response capabilities. | ❌ Relies on periodic scans, creating potential latency. |
Granularity | ✅ Detailed system-level visibility for files, processes, and networks. ❌ Can be excessive for basic needs. | ✅ Broad, cloud-level visibility. ❌ Lacks system-level context. |
Scalability | ❌ Difficult to scale in dynamic, ephemeral environments. | ✅ Highly scalable across multi-cloud and hybrid setups. |
Compliance support | ✅ Detailed logs and monitoring to meet strict compliance requirements. | ✅ Useful for posture-focused compliance. ❌ Limited support for runtime auditing. |
Threat detection latency | ✅ Real-time responses minimize exposure. | ❌ Detection latency due to reliance on cloud logs and scanning schedules. |
Suitability for early-stage security | ❌ Requires significant resources and expertise to implement. | ✅ Ideal for quickly establishing basic security posture. |
Adaptability to runtime threats | ✅ Effective at detecting and mitigating runtime threats. ❌ Potentially complex to maintain in rapidly evolving environments. | ❌ Limited runtime insights make it less effective in responding to dynamic workloads. |
Building a hybrid security model with Sysdig
In modern cloud environments, where static security models often fall short, Sysdig’s hybrid approach demonstrates how agentless and agent-based solutions can work together effectively. By leveraging the strengths of both approaches, Sysdig offers a comprehensive framework for protecting cloud infrastructure from development to runtime. Sysdig’s hybrid model exemplifies how combining agent-based and agentless approaches addresses the full spectrum of cloud security needs. By integrating these methods, organizations can achieve both breadth and depth in their security coverage.
Unified architecture for comprehensive security
Sysdig integrates agentless tools for configuration monitoring and posture management with agent-based solutions for real-time visibility and runtime protection with minimal performance impact. This dual approach ensures that foundational security tasks, like identifying misconfigurations, are covered alongside advanced capabilities, such as detecting malicious processes.
Addressing regulatory compliance with flexibility
Sysdig’s solutions are tailored to meet compliance needs across industries. Agentless methods provide quick, posture-focused reporting for standards like CIS benchmarks, while agents deliver the detailed logs and runtime insights required for stringent audits, such as those under PCI DSS or GDPR. Sysdig brings it all together in one flexible, powerful interface that presents you with the information you need to be sure you’re secure.
From foundation to runtime: Crafting a hybrid cloud security model
Cloud security isn’t about choosing between agentless and agent-based approaches but combining their strengths. A hybrid strategy ensures comprehensive security, addressing foundational needs while enabling granular runtime protection. Sysdig streamlines this integration, offering breadth and depth to meet evolving threats and regulatory requirements. By leveraging both approaches, organizations can build a robust security posture that adapts to their unique needs, securing cloud environments effectively. The focus isn’t on picking one—it’s about using both to protect what matters most.
FAQ
Agentless security is ideal for environments requiring rapid deployment and minimal performance impact, such as multi-cloud setups, legacy systems, and early-stage cloud adoption. It excels in monitoring static configurations, identifying misconfigurations, and maintaining compliance without the need for installing agents on individual systems.
Yes, industries with stringent data protection requirements—such as finance, healthcare, and retail—often necessitate agent-based security to comply with standards like PCI DSS, HIPAA, and GDPR. Agent-based tools provide the detailed logs and real-time monitoring essential for meeting these rigorous compliance standards.
Agentless solutions can monitor cloud infrastructure and provide visibility into configurations; however, they may struggle with real-time insights into short-lived resources like containers and serverless functions. For comprehensive monitoring of these ephemeral workloads, agent-based tools are often necessary to capture transient runtime events.
Beginning with agentless security alone may leave gaps in runtime protection due to its limited real-time capabilities. Transitioning to a hybrid model later can introduce operational complexities, as integrating agent-based tools into an established security framework requires careful planning and resource allocation.
Agentless tools offer easy scalability across multi-cloud environments, providing broad visibility with minimal configuration. In contrast, agent-based tools require more effort to deploy and manage, especially in dynamic or ephemeral environments, which can impact scalability. In practice, however, when you’re using tools like Kubernetes, once you have it correctly configured in the right .yaml build scripts, your agent-based security will require fairly little maintenance except in fast-evolving infrastructures.