diff --git a/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt b/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt
index 7b018446..adcd6168 100644
--- a/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/userspace/falco/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ add_executable(falco
 	grpc_context.cpp
 	grpc_server_impl.cpp
 	grpc_server.cpp
+	utils.cpp
 	${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/falco_output.grpc.pb.cc
 	${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/falco_output.pb.cc)
 
diff --git a/userspace/falco/utils.cpp b/userspace/falco/utils.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..344539cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/userspace/falco/utils.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+Copyright (C) 2016-2019 The Falco Authors
+
+This file is part of falco.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+#include "utils.h"
+
+void falco::utils::read(const std::string& filename, std::string& data)
+{
+	std::ifstream file(filename.c_str(), std::ios::in);
+
+	if(file.is_open())
+	{
+		std::stringstream ss;
+		ss << file.rdbuf();
+
+		file.close();
+
+		data = ss.str();
+	}
+
+	return;
+}
diff --git a/userspace/falco/utils.h b/userspace/falco/utils.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cf466cd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/userspace/falco/utils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+Copyright (C) 2016-2019 The Falco Authors
+
+This file is part of falco.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <sstream>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+
+namespace falco
+{
+namespace utils
+{
+void read(const std::string& filename, std::string& data);
+} // namespace utils
+} // namespace falco