EXTENSION OF OPEN POLICY AGENT FUNCTIONS USING FALCO

Abstract

The paper considers approaches to integrating the real-time threat detection system Falco with the Open Policy Agent (OPA) policy mechanism in the Kubernetes environment. Three main interaction models are analyzed: direct event sending via Falcosidekick to the OPA HTTP API, using OPA as an admission controller to block dangerous configurations at the resource creation stage, and using an intermediate service as a connecting link between Falco and OPA with the ability to process complex events. The study demonstrates that the combination of sensor control mechanisms and policy-oriented decision-making allows for a higher level of security, automated response, and compliance with Zero Trust principles. The combination of Falco and Open Policy Agent forms a multi-layered security model, where runtime threat detection is complemented by a flexible policy mechanism. The option of direct event sending from Falco via Falcosidekick to the OPA HTTP interface provides a prompt response and minimal delay between incident detection and decision-making, which makes it appropriate for clusters with increased response time requirements. Using OPA as an admission controller enhances proactive protection by blocking unwanted objects before they are deployed, but requires constant adjustment of Rego policies based on the knowledge provided by Falco. The scenario with an intermediate service combines the advantages of both approaches: it allows for complex business logic, enables limited isolation of suspicious workloads, and at the same time does not overload OPA with an excessive number of events. All three schemes confirm that the integration of sensor and policy-oriented components significantly increases the level of protection of containerized environments, contributes to the implementation of Zero Trust principles, and creates the prerequisites for a self-healing infrastructure with automated compliance control.