Who is CrowdStrike: the company behind the mass IT outages

Founding and evolution

CrowdStrike was established by George Kurtz, Dmitri Alperovitch, and Gregg Marston in 2011. The founders envisioned a cybersecurity company that could provide not just reactive measures, but proactive and predictive solutions to combat the evolving landscape of cyber threats. This vision led to the creation of the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, which combines endpoint protection, threat intelligence, and proactive threat hunting in a single, integrated solution.

The CrowdStrike Falcon platform

At the heart of CrowdStrike's offerings is the Falcon platform, which a recent update caused the mass IT outages. This Cloud-native endpoint protection solution uses AI and machine learning to detect and prevent threats in real time. It collects and analyses data from millions of endpoints around the world, enabling it to identify patterns and predict potential attacks before they occur. The Falcon platform includes:

• Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): Provides continuous and comprehensive visibility into what is happening on endpoints, helping organisations detect and respond to threats quickly.
• Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV): Uses AI to identify and block known and unknown malware, ransomware, and other malicious activities without relying on traditional signature-based methods.
• Threat Intelligence: Offers insights into adversaries' tactics, techniques, and procedures, helping organisations understand and defend against specific threats.
• Managed Threat Hunting: A team of experts continuously monitors and hunts for threats, providing an additional layer of security and expertise.

Key milestones and achievements

CrowdStrike has achieved several significant milestones since its inception:

• Initial Public Offering (IPO): In June 2019, CrowdStrike went public, raising $612 million and achieving a market capitalisation of $11.4 billion.
• Major Incident Response: CrowdStrike has been involved in investigating several high-profile cyber incidents, including the Sony Pictures hack in 2014 and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) breach in 2016.
• Partnerships and Alliances: CrowdStrike has formed strategic partnerships with major technology companies, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and VMware, enhancing its ability to provide comprehensive security solutions.

However, this reputation has since been somewhat tainted following the catastrophic errors made by the company on 19^th July 2024, which triggered a global mass IT outage.