Tetragon

Tetragon is an open-source, eBPF-powered real-time security observability and runtime enforcement platform engineered to detect, track, and stop cyber attacks directly inside the operating system kernel before user-space processes are compromised. Traditional runtime security agents and endpoint detection tools rely on asynchronous kernel event sampling or auditd logging, introducing significant performance overhead and allowing malicious processes to execute harmful actions before security controls can intervene. Tetragon eliminates this vulnerability window by using deep eBPF kernel hooks that operate synchronously within kernel memory, enabling instant real-time security enforcement. Tetragon monitors process lifecycles, file system access, network socket creation, namespace boundaries, and system call execution with complete container and Kubernetes awareness. When malicious activity—such as unauthorized privilege escalation, namespace escapes, sensitive file tampering, or reverse shell spawning—is detected, Tetragon can automatically terminate the offending process synchronously within the kernel before data exfiltration occurs. The platform produces rich, structured security telemetry in JSON format, enriched with Kubernetes pod identities, container names, and binary hashes. By combining zero-latency kernel enforcement with deep cloud-native visibility, Tetragon empowers DevSecOps teams to protect Kubernetes workloads from zero-day exploits, rootkits, and container breakouts.