Runtime-aware scanning is security inspection tied to workloads that are actually executing in a live environment. Instead of analyzing only a container image, package, or registry record, the scanner observes running processes, loaded libraries, network activity, file changes, and other signs of what a pod, VM, or service is doing right now.
This matters because a workload can behave differently after deployment than it looked at build time. A clean image may start a vulnerable process, download new components, or load unexpected code at runtime. Runtime-aware tools help defenders detect active exploitation, policy violations, and unauthorized changes that static scans can miss. In practice, they are used for alerting on suspicious execution, confirming whether a vulnerable component is truly in use, and prioritizing remediation based on what is exposed in production. In container security, runtime visibility complements image and registry scanning by answering the question: what is the system actually doing now?