Why Real-Time Security Monitoring Matters in 2025

If you’re running anything online—whether it’s a Dockerized app, a VPS, or a beefy dedicated server—security is a moving target. Attackers are smarter, automation is everywhere, and the “set it and forget it” approach is basically an invitation for trouble. You need to know what’s happening right now on your infrastructure, not just what happened last night. This is where Falco steps in, especially with its eBPF-powered engine in 2025.

Falco isn’t just another log analyzer. It’s like having a bouncer at your server’s door, watching system calls and flagging anything sketchy in real time. And with eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter), it’s faster, lighter, and more flexible than ever. If you’re self-hosting, running containers, or managing your own VPS/dedicated box, Falco is the “eyes and ears” you didn’t know you needed.

What’s the Big Deal? The Problem Falco Solves

• Zero-day exploits: Attackers move fast. You need to catch weird behavior as it happens, not after the fact.
• Cloud, Docker, and Bare Metal: Security isn’t “one size fits all.” Falco works everywhere—Kubernetes, Docker, VPS, or dedicated servers.
• Performance: Traditional monitoring tools can slow down your system. eBPF lets Falco monitor everything with minimal overhead.

So, if you want to keep your hosting safe—whether you’re spinning up a quick VPS at MangoHost or running a dedicated monster—Falco is a must-have in 2025.

Three Big Questions About Falco + eBPF

1. How does Falco actually work (with eBPF)?
2. How do you set it up quickly—on Docker, VPS, or dedicated servers?
3. What are the real-world pros, cons, and gotchas?

1. How Does Falco Work? (With eBPF Magic)

What is Falco?

Falco is an open-source runtime security tool that watches your Linux system calls in real time. Think of it as a security camera for your processes, containers, and network activity. It uses rules (YAML files) to define what’s “normal” and what’s “suspicious.”

What is eBPF?

eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter) is like a superpower for the Linux kernel. It lets you run sandboxed programs inside the kernel, safely and efficiently. In 2025, eBPF is everywhere—networking, observability, and now, security monitoring.

How Falco Uses eBPF

• Falco loads an eBPF probe into the kernel.
• The probe listens for system calls (like open(), execve(), chmod()).
• When something happens (e.g., a shell is spawned inside a container), Falco checks its rules.
• If a rule is triggered, Falco sends an alert—email, Slack, webhook, whatever you want.

The beauty? eBPF makes this fast and low-overhead. You can monitor thousands of events per second with barely a blip on your CPU.

Falco’s Structure: Under the Hood

• Falco Engine: The core process, runs as a daemon.
• eBPF Probe: Kernel module or eBPF program that hooks into syscalls.
• Rules: YAML files that define what’s “bad” (e.g., “alert if someone runs nc in a container”).
• Output: Alerts to stdout, files, syslog, webhooks, etc.

2. How to Set Up Falco with eBPF (Quick & Dirty Guide)

Pre-Reqs: What You Need

• Linux kernel 4.14+ (for eBPF support; most modern distros are fine)
• Root access (for installing the eBPF probe)
• Docker (optional, but makes things easier)

Install Falco: The Fast Way

On Docker (Works on VPS, Dedicated, or Cloud)

docker run --rm -it \
  --name falco \
  --privileged \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/host/var/run/docker.sock \
  -v /proc:/host/proc:ro \
  -v /boot:/host/boot:ro \
  -v /lib/modules:/host/lib/modules:ro \
  -v /usr:/host/usr:ro \
  falcosecurity/falco:latest

This pulls the latest Falco image, mounts the necessary host directories, and starts monitoring. The --privileged flag is required for kernel access.

On Bare Metal (VPS or Dedicated Server)

curl -s https://falco.org/install.sh | sudo bash
sudo systemctl start falco
sudo systemctl enable falco

This one-liner works on Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, etc. It’ll auto-detect and use the eBPF driver if your kernel supports it.

Check That eBPF is Working

sudo falco --list-drivers

Look for ebpf in the output. If you see it, you’re golden.

Customizing Rules (The Fun Part)

Falco ships with a bunch of default rules, but you’ll want to tweak them. Rules are in /etc/falco/falco_rules.yaml (or /etc/falco/rules.d/ for modular rules).

- rule: Run Shell in Container
  desc: Detect a shell running inside a container
  condition: container and shell_procs
  output: "Shell spawned in container (user=%user.name command=%proc.cmdline container_id=%container.id)"
  priority: WARNING

You can add your own rules for things like:

• Unexpected network connections
• File modifications in sensitive directories
• Privilege escalations

Sending Alerts (Slack, Webhook, etc.)

Falco supports output plugins. For Slack/webhooks, use falcosidekick:

docker run -d \
  -e SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://hooks.slack.com/services/..." \
  -p 2801:2801 \
  falcosecurity/falcosidekick

Then, in /etc/falco/falco.yaml, set:

program_output:
  enabled: true
  keep_alive: false
  program: "/usr/bin/curl -X POST -d @- http://localhost:2801/"

3. Real-World Examples: What Works, What Doesn’t

Comparison Table: Falco vs. Other Solutions

Feature	Falco (eBPF)	Auditd	OSSEC	Sysdig Secure
Real-time syscall monitoring	Yes (eBPF, fast)	Yes (slow, high overhead)	No (file-based)	Yes (commercial, eBPF)
Container awareness	Yes	Limited	No	Yes
Custom rules	Yes (YAML)	Yes (complex)	Yes	Yes
Resource usage	Low (eBPF)	High	Low	Low
Open source	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Positive Case: Stopping a Crypto Miner in a Docker Container

• Attacker exploits a web app, spawns a shell in a container.
• Falco rule triggers: “Shell spawned in container.”
• Alert sent to Slack in real time.
• Admin kills the container before the miner does damage.

Advice: Always enable container-specific rules!

Negative Case: Missed Alert Due to Overly Permissive Rules

• Falco is running, but rules are too generic (“alert on everything”).
• Admin gets flooded with alerts—real threats get lost in the noise.
• Actual attack slips through because of alert fatigue.

Advice: Tune your rules! Start with defaults, then customize for your stack.

Beginner Mistakes and Myths

• Myth: “Falco will block attacks.”
  Reality: Falco is detection, not prevention. It alerts you, but doesn’t block by default.
• Mistake: Not running Falco as root (or with --privileged in Docker).
  Fix: Kernel access is required for syscall monitoring.
• Myth: “eBPF is risky or unstable.”
  Reality: eBPF is now mainstream, used by Facebook, Netflix, Google, etc.

Similar Tools and Utilities

• Tracee – eBPF-based runtime security, more focused on forensics.
• OSSEC – Host-based IDS, but not real-time syscall monitoring.
• Elastic Security – Great for log analysis, but not as low-level as Falco.

Interesting Facts & Non-Standard Usage

• You can use Falco to monitor developer workstations for suspicious activity (e.g., accidental secrets leaks).
• Falco can trigger automated remediation scripts (e.g., auto-kill a compromised container).
• Combine Falco with Falcosidekick for multi-channel alerts: Slack, Teams, Discord, PagerDuty, etc.
• Use Falco in CI/CD pipelines to catch weird behavior during test runs.

Automation & Scripting: New Opportunities

• Hook Falco alerts to auto-scale your infrastructure (e.g., spin up a clean node if a compromise is detected).
• Integrate with SOAR platforms for automated incident response.
• Use Falco’s JSON output for custom dashboards or log aggregation (e.g., ELK, Loki, Grafana).

Statistics: Why Falco + eBPF Wins

• Falco with eBPF can monitor 10,000+ events/sec on modern hardware with <5% CPU usage.
• Over 30,000 GitHub stars and used by companies like Shopify, GitLab, and Sysdig.
• eBPF-based monitoring is now the industry standard for cloud-native security.

Conclusion: Should You Use Falco in 2025?

If you’re running anything on a VPS, dedicated server, or in the cloud, Falco is a no-brainer. It’s open-source, fast, and works everywhere—from Docker containers to bare metal. With eBPF, you get real-time, low-overhead monitoring that actually keeps up with modern attacks.

• Why? Because attackers move fast. You need to move faster.
• How? Install Falco, tune your rules, hook up alerts, and sleep better at night.
• Where? Anywhere you run Linux—cloud, VPS, Docker, or dedicated.

Don’t wait for the next headline breach. Set up Falco and let your servers watch their own backs. For more info, check out the official Falco docs and GitHub repo.

Happy (and safe) hosting!

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