TL;DR
C-Sentinel is a portable C-written system prober that collects comprehensive "system fingerprints" and summarizes them for AI-assisted analysis of subtle operational and security risks. Version 0.6.0 adds multi-user role access, TOTP two-factor authentication, per-user API keys and expanded admin controls, and the project includes a live web dashboard and auditd summarisation.
What happened
A new release of C-Sentinel, a lightweight system prober for UNIX environments, bundles an agent that captures a broad collection of system state information and security events and presents them through a web dashboard designed for multi-host monitoring. The agent integrates with auditd to summarise authentication, privilege escalation and sensitive file accesses into explainable risk scores and human-readable posture summaries. The dashboard for v0.6.0 introduces role-based access (Admin/Operator/Viewer), TOTP two-factor authentication, personal API keys, an audit log of administrative actions, session management and alerting to email and Slack. The project provides quick-start commands to build and run the prober, example auditctl rules for sensitive files, and a JSON output format that includes risk factors and a numerical risk score. A public read-only demo is available for evaluation.
Why it matters
- Combines system-level telemetry with semantic analysis to highlight non-obvious degradations or security anomalies that metric-only tools may miss.
- Explainable risk factors and plain-English posture summaries make findings more actionable for operators and auditors.
- Built-in auditd parsing and privacy-preserving defaults aim to surface relevant security signals without exposing raw identities or secrets.
- Multi-user controls, 2FA and per-user API keys support shared operational workflows and automated ingestion for CI/CD or monitoring pipelines.
Key facts
- C-Sentinel is implemented in C and targets UNIX systems.
- v0.6.0 additions include role-based access control, TOTP two-factor authentication, per-user API keys, admin audit logging and session management.
- The agent can run in quick, learn or watch modes; auditd integration requires root to capture audit logs.
- Explainable risk scoring enumerates weighted factors; the project shows an example risk score of 25 labeled "high."
- Email and Slack alerting are configurable; default triggers include risk score ≥ 16, brute force detection and certain sensitive file executions.
- Privacy features include hashing of failed-login usernames, omission of passwords, and sanitisation of full paths in process data.
- Sample setup steps and auditctl rules for files like /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow are provided in the repository.
- A web dashboard supports real-time multi-host views, historical charts, network and config tracking via SHA256 checksums.
- A public demo mode exposes a read-only viewer interface without login for showcasing the dashboard.
What to watch next
- Real-world adoption and performance characteristics under large-scale fleet loads: not confirmed in the source
- Whether independent security audits or third-party reviews are performed on the agent and dashboard codebase: not confirmed in the source
Quick glossary
- auditd: A Linux auditing system that records security-relevant events such as authentication attempts, file access and privilege escalations.
- TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password): A temporary numeric code generated by apps like Google Authenticator or Authy, used as a second authentication factor.
- Risk score: A numerical value computed from weighted factors that represents the aggregated security or operational risk for a system.
- Baseline learning: A process where a tool observes normal behaviour over time to detect deviations that may indicate anomalies or threats.
- SHA256 checksum: A cryptographic hash used to verify integrity of files or configurations by comparing expected and computed digests.
Reader FAQ
Where can I find the source code and a demo?
The project repository and a live demo URL are provided in the source (GitHub link and a public demo address).
What platforms does C-Sentinel support?
The project targets UNIX systems; specific distributions or kernel requirements are not detailed in the source.
Does C-Sentinel capture passwords or raw credentials?
No. The source states that command arguments and sensitive data such as passwords are not captured, and usernames in failed logins are hashed.
Is C-Sentinel marketed as enterprise-ready or commercially supported?
not confirmed in the source
C-Sentinel Semantic Observability for UNIX Systems A lightweight, portable system prober written in C that captures "system fingerprints" for AI-assisted analysis of non-obvious risks. Features auditd integration, explainable risk scoring,…
Sources
- C-Sentinel: System prober that captures "system fingerprints" for AI analysis
- Fingerprint Generator API
- An Emergent Threat Detection System for AI Security
- Horizon3.ai User Documentation
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