AI summary
DaemonEye is a stealth observability platform for defenders in restricted or air-gapped environments. It provides silent, sovereign observability without cloud connectivity, aiming to replace traditional EDR/XDR tools. Key features include full process and network visibility,
forensic traceability, and human-controlled escalation, all with a zero-egress telemetry model and a proxy tree architecture for scalability. It offers Business and Enterprise paid tiers, along with a free Community edition, emphasizing data sovereignty, stealth, and audit integrity.
1. Vision#
DaemonEye provides silent, sovereign observability for defenders in restricted or air-gapped environments. It enables organizations to **watch from the shadows—**tracing attacker behavior across systems without tipping off the adversary. Every endpoint becomes a stealth honeypot; every process chain a forensic record.
"We watch from the shadows, and our eyes never close."
Core Philosophy#
- No cloud, no leaks: All telemetry stays under customer control.
- Observe, don't disrupt: Human-in-the-loop tracing and containment.
- Audit, don't guess: Every action is signed and verifiable.
- Local-first architecture: Works entirely offline or within enclaves.
2. Problem Statement#
Traditional EDR/XDR tools depend on continuous connectivity, vendor-controlled cloud analytics, and active remediation logic. These traits make them unusable in classified, air-gapped, or
compliance-restricted environments.
Organizations need a **quiet, controlled hunt and response capability **that delivers:
- Full process and network visibility across enclaves.
- Forensic traceability with cryptographic integrity.
- Human-controlled escalation without automated disruption.
DaemonEye fills this gap by replacing external telemetry with internal trust --- sovereign detection and forensics under the operator's control.
3. Product Goals#
- Deliver continuous local observability of processes and network activity.
- Enable on-demand, stealth tracing of suspicious lineages.
- Maintain a zero-egress telemetry model (customer sees all, shares nothing).
- Scale through a proxy tree architecture, not a cloud backend.
- Preserve forensic fidelity with signed audit chains.
- Empower analysts to reconstruct attacker movement across hosts.
- Operate fully within air-gapped or restricted environments.
4. Target Users & Environments#
- Defense, intelligence, and research networks.
- Critical infrastructure and industrial control systems.
- Incident response teams in sovereign or isolated environments.
- Red/blue exercises requiring covert visibility.
5. Key Differentiators#
| **Domain** | **DaemonEye Advantage** |
| **Data Sovereignty** | No outbound telemetry; all operations within customer enclave. |
| **Stealth Operation** | Silent rules and trace commands undetectable to adversaries. |
| **Focused Forensics** | Trace-by-lineage, not bulk telemetry dumps. |
| **Scalable Architecture** | Fanout-style proxy tree (Agents → Proxies → Security Center). |
| **Audit Integrity** | Ed25519-signed logs with immutable ledger. |
| **Offline Operation** | Fully functional in disconnected or classified environments. |
## 6. Architecture Overview
### Components
- **Agent (Procmond)** --- Captures process, file, and network metadata locally.
- **Proxy Node (PX)** --- Store-and-forward buffer for agents; batches and compresses data to Security Center.
- **Security Center (SC)** --- Central management and correlation point. Runs the rule engine, handles trace commands, and aggregates audit logs.
### Communication Model
- **mTLS-only connections** using customer-owned certificates.
- **Store-and-forward WAL design:** agents never push to the internet.
- **Cross-host tracing:** SC links process chains across hosts using
shared trace IDs.
## 7. Functional Requirements
### Core
1. Local process and connection collection (PID, PPID, cmdline, hash, IP tuples).
2. Rule engine for heuristic detections (SQL-based queries).
3. TraceCommand: focused tracing on process lineage upon trigger.
4. Signed audit ledger with per-event verification.
5. Multi-proxy store-and-forward architecture for scale.
6. Security Center web UI for alerts, traces, and forensic timeline.
7. Export capability for signed forensic packages.
### Advanced (Enterprise)
1. Federation across multiple Security Centers.
2. Kernel-level telemetry (eBPF, ETW, EndpointSecurity).
3. Behavioral analytics and drift correlation.
4. Compliance mapping (NIST, ISO, CIS).
5. STIX/TAXII threat intel exchange (offline sync).
6. SSO/LDAP and advanced RBAC.
## 8. Licensing Model
DaemonEye offers **two paid tiers and a community edition **(non-commercial DIY build).
| **Tier** | **Use Case** | **Features** | **Pricing (Baseline)** |
| **Business** | Single Security Center, moderate fleet | GUI, proxy tree, curated rule packs, connectors | \~\$499/site (launch baseline) + brand buffer (+25%) |
| **Enterprise** | Multi-site federation, regulated environments | All Business features + federation, kernel telemetry, compliance, SSO, SLA support | \~\$8,000 baseline (+30% buffer) negotiable |
| **Community (Open Core)** | Non-commercial DIY | Agent, CLI rule engine, single node | Free / Apache 2.0 |
### Notes
- Community edition is not a paid tier; it serves ecosystem and visibility goals.
- Licensing remains perpetual (no subscription required). Optional annual maintenance (updates/support) may be offered at \~25% of the base price.
- Each tier enforces scale and feature boundaries (number of endpoints, federation, compliance modules).
## 9. MVP Deliverables
1. Linux agent with eBPF + /proc fallback collection.
2. Proxy node with WAL, compression, and replay.
3. Security Center backend + minimal UI.
4. TraceCommand and audit signing implementation.
5. Apache→bash→ssh cross-host trace demo.
6. Forensic export tool.
7. Documentation and test harness.
## 10. Non-Functional Requirements
| **Category** | **Target** |
| **Performance** | \<5% CPU utilization, \<100 MB RAM per host. |
| **Latency** | \<1s event propagation within enclave. |
| **Scalability** | 500 agents per proxy node; horizontal scaling supported. |
| **Security** | mTLS, customer PKI, signed rule packs. |
| **Auditability** | All operator actions signed and recorded. |
| **Availability** | Offline survivability via WAL; resilient to link outages. |
## 11. Risks & Mitigations
| **Risk** | **Mitigation** |
| Government or large buyers purchase Business tier | Enforce scale & feature caps contractually; define clear upgrade triggers. |
| Brand unfamiliarity | Early-adopter discount in exchange for references; publish transparent design and audits. |
| Support overhead | 25% buffer baked into pricing; optional paid support add-on. |
| Customer data sensitivity | Zero-egress policy and cryptographic audit chain. |
| Feature creep | Strict MVP roadmap, modular design. |
## 12. Roadmap Snapshot
**Phase 1 --- Shadow-Hunt MVP (Q1)**: Agent, Proxy, SC, tracing demo.
**Phase 2 --- Business (Q2)**: GUI, proxy scaling, rule packs, connectors.
**Phase 3 --- Enterprise (Q3-Q4)**: Kernel telemetry, federation, compliance modules.
## 13. Messaging & Positioning
| **Tier** | **Message** |
| **Community** | "Build your own observability. We give you the tools." |
| **Business** | "Professional-grade monitoring you can actually run offline." |
| **Enterprise** | "Sovereign observability for nations, defense, and critical infrastructure." |
## 14. Summary
DaemonEye is not an antivirus, a telemetry feed, or a cloud service. It is a **stealth observability platform** designed for defenders who can't rely on anyone else. Two paid tiers keep pricing simple and fair, while a community edition maintains transparency and trust.
**Our promise:** You own the eyes, you control the data, and nothing leaves your walls.