File Access

What is File Access Monitoring?

Jibril is a runtime detection tool designed to monitor and analyze all file access operations across a system. It maintains comprehensive visibility into every interaction between applications and the filesystem, tracking which processes access which files, what operations they perform, and under what context these actions occur. This detailed monitoring creates a complete audit trail of file interactions that can be analyzed to detect security threats, policy violations, or suspicious behavior patterns.

How Does File Access Monitoring Work?

1. Comprehensive File Operation Tracking: Jibril intercepts and logs every file operation in the system, including opens, reads, writes, modifications, deletions, and permission changes. For each operation, it records detailed metadata such as:

   • The exact file path and name

   • Timestamp of the access

   • Process ID and name that performed the operation

   • User context under which the access occurred

   • Type of operation performed

   • Amount of data read or written

2. Long-tail Information Collection: Rather than sampling or filtering events, Jibril constructs a complete historical record of all file interactions. This "long tail" of information allows for:

   • Temporal analysis of access patterns over time

   • Correlation between seemingly unrelated file operations

   • Detection of slow-moving or distributed attacks that might otherwise go unnoticed

3. Contextual Analysis Engine: Jibril analyzes file access patterns within their full operational context by:

   • Comparing current access patterns against historical baselines

   • Evaluating the legitimacy of access based on process lineage and behavior

   • Correlating file operations with other system activities like network connections or process creations

   • Identifying anomalous access patterns that deviate from normal behavior

4. eBPF-powered Implementation: Using eBPF technology, Jibril attaches to kernel functions responsible for file operations, allowing it to:

   • Monitor file access with minimal performance impact

   • Operate without modifying the kernel or requiring special modules

   • Maintain visibility even into privileged processes

Where Does File Access Monitoring Operate?

Jibril's file access monitoring capabilities operate at multiple levels within the system:

• Kernel Space: eBPF hooks intercept file-related syscalls directly in the kernel

• VFS Layer: Monitoring at the Virtual File System layer provides visibility across all filesystem types

• Individual Filesystem Operations: Detailed tracking of specific operations within each filesystem type

• System-wide Coverage: All file operations across the entire system are captured, regardless of which user or process initiated them

Why is File Access Monitoring Important?

1. Comprehensive Attack Surface Coverage: Many attack vectors involve file operations at some point—malware must read or write files, data exfiltration requires accessing sensitive information, and persistence mechanisms often modify system files.

2. Data Breach Detection: By tracking every file access, Jibril can identify unauthorized access to sensitive files, even if the access appears legitimate at first glance.

3. Advanced Threat Detection: The long-tail approach to information collection enables detection of sophisticated attacks that might only become apparent when analyzing patterns over extended periods.

4. Forensic Investigation: The detailed historical record of all file operations provides invaluable evidence for incident response, allowing security teams to reconstruct exactly what happened during a breach.

Conclusion

File access monitoring forms a critical component of Jibril's defense strategy. By leveraging eBPF technology to observe and record every file operation across the system, Jibril creates a comprehensive audit trail that enables detection of security threats based on file interaction patterns. This approach provides unparalleled visibility into one of the most fundamental aspects of system operation—how processes interact with data—creating a powerful detection mechanism for modern security threats.