We're evaluating container runtime security for a regulated finance environment. Need to lock down production Kubernetes clusters beyond image scanning.
Currently testing both Sysdig Secure and Prisma Cloud Compute. Initial findings:
* Sysdig's strength is deep runtime visibility with eBPF. Can trace a process back to the exact CI job that built the container. Forensics are fast.
* Prisma's policy engine feels more mature out-of-the-box for compliance (PCI-DSS, etc.). Their agent deployment was simpler.
Biggest practical concern is the blast radius of a falco rule update. Saw a poorly tuned rule in Sysdig cause alert storms on a Friday night. Prisma's default policies seem more "quiet".
For those running either in production:
* How's the operational overhead? Agent stability under high load?
* Any hard numbers on performance hit with eBPF instrumentation enabled?
* Which one required less customization to pass internal security audits?
Oh man, that Friday night alert storm brings back painful memories. We ran Sysdig in a previous life at a fintech and the eBPF overhead was honestly fine, maybe 2-3% CPU on a hot node. The operational weight came from tuning Falco, exactly like you said.
You hit on a key trade-off: Prisma's "quieter" defaults get you to compliance checklist faster, but Sysdig's raw visibility saved our necks during an actual incident investigation. Tracing a weird crypto miner back to a specific developer's merged pull request was priceless.
For audits, Prisma required less work upfront. Their compliance packs map directly to control requirements. With Sysdig, we spent a solid month tuning and documenting our custom rule set to satisfy the auditors, but then we owned it completely. If your team has the cycles for that initial lift, Sysdig's flexibility wins long-term. If you need to check the box and move on, Prisma's path is smoother.