Cilium

Cilium is an open-source project that provides networking, observability, and security for cloud native environments, particularly Kubernetes. It leverages eBPF (extended Berkeley Packet Filter) technology to offer high-performance data path capabilities directly within the Linux kernel, enabling advanced features without requiring kernel module changes or sidecar proxies. This tool is designed for organizations deploying and managing containerized applications, especially those using Kubernetes. It addresses critical needs for network connectivity, traffic management, policy enforcement, and deep visibility into network activity within complex microservices architectures. By operating at the kernel level, it offers superior performance and granular control compared to traditional networking solutions. Key benefits include enhanced security through identity-based policy enforcement, improved network performance, and comprehensive observability into network flows, DNS requests, HTTP/gRPC traffic, and more. It helps platform engineers, SREs, and security teams build more resilient, secure, and performant cloud native applications.