Digitization has changed the ways businesses operate. Companies are relying on computers to do their everyday tasks. However, this shift has also opened doors for threat actors and cyber criminals to exploit weaknesses in systems and steal confidential information and data. These cyber attacks can not only lead to financial losses but also damage reputation and cause legal consequences. In case there is a successful cyber attack, addressing it can be exceedingly costly for organizations. In fact, the global estimated cost of cyberattacks is expected to reach $15.63 trillion by 2029.

Cyber criminals have become more advanced when it comes to the development of malware. They are more targeted, customized, and sophisticated. Ransomware attacks have become a serious challenge as they impose risks on people, organizations, and governments. In order to protect against these attacks, cyber defenders are developing intricate and sophisticated cybersecurity solutions like CrowdStrike. It provides a more dynamic, real-time approach to threat identification and response.

But what exactly is CrowdStrike, and how has it become so famous among businesses and security organizations? Let’s look into CrowdStrike's capabilities, how it differs from traditional systems, and why so many firms are choosing it over traditional anti-viruses.

Understanding Crowdstrike

CrowdStrike, a cloud-native cybersecurity startup, provides advanced security using endpoint protection, threat intelligence, and incident response services. Its main product, CrowdStrike Falcon, is an endpoint detection and response (EDR) platform that goes beyond traditional antivirus by integrating artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and behavior-based analytics to identify and respond to threats in real time. In simple words, it’s an antivirus but on steroids.

Key Features of CrowdStrike

The following are some of the key features of CrowdStrike:

• AI & Machine Learning: CrowdStrike uses behavioral analysis to detect threats. It is an advanced feature, as many other traditional anti viruses only rely on known signatures.
• Cloud-Native Architecture: Falcon operates entirely in the cloud, requiring no on-premises servers. This makes deployment faster and makes the management simpler.
• Integration of Threat Intelligence: CrowdStrike has built-in threat intelligence providing insights about the attack. This advanced feature provides insights into the attack details like who is attacking, the nature of the cyber attack, and its intensity. These details are vital for the security team to analyze the details and then implement necessary security protocols in their systems.
• Real-time response: CrowdStrike provides real-time data which enables security teams to take necessary precautions like isolate endpoints, remove malicious processes, and analyze risks in real time, without having to be physically present there.
• Scalability and Lightweight: One of its unique features are that the Falcon agent is really lightweight, and system performance is also not degraded by incorporating it. This makes it perfect and suitable for large-scale deployments.

Why Traditional Antivirus Is No Longer Enough

Over the years, the attacks have become more sophisticated and tailored when it comes to malware development. Hence, they cannot be detected by using the traditional antivirus. Security has become a vital feature in today's systems, and so many modern systems have built-in antivirus programs that provide basic security.

For example, Windows operating systems include Windows Defender as their security feature. It is a comprehensive antivirus and anti-malware component that provides real-time threat protection. Similarly, macOS contains built-in security mechanisms that provide security against malware and viruses, but it does not include an officially designated antivirus tool.

However, these are traditional antivirus, and they come with a lot of constraints. Some of these include:

• Signature-Based Detection: Mostly, antivirus software has a database of known malware signatures. They are only able to detect the attacks based on these signatures. This indicates that they are incapable of detecting and mitigating advanced threats like zero-day attacks and fileless malware. “Zero day” refers to the attacks that are completely new, and security teams have "0" days to work on a security patch or upgrade to resolve the issue.
• Slow updates: Signature databases require frequent changes. If the system is not constantly updated, it will remain vulnerable to new attacks.
• Reactive Instead of Proactive: Traditional antivirus software is reactive which means they detect malware after it has been run or after it has caused the damage.
• High false positive rates: Many older methods classify benign processes or files as harmful, resulting in unwanted alarms and operational issues.
• Lack of visibility: Traditional antivirus provides little to no information about the attacker’s activity. There is no information regarding the context of an attack, which makes the forensic analysis very difficult.

Why Are Businesses Switching to CrowdStrike?

Businesses all around the world are making a shift to CrowdStrike as it aims to provide advanced security against threats and malware by using modern technologies like Artificial Intelligence.

For instance, in 2020, Universal Health Services (UHS), which is one of the top healthcare units in the United States, became a victim of Ryuk ransomware. The attack was huge and forced many of its 400 facilities to use paper-based systems. As a result of this attack, patient treatment was delayed, and systems were down for weeks, resulting in an estimated $67 million loss.

This event was an eye-opener for several hospitals, especially smaller regional networks. Healthcare sectors assessed their security posture and integrated smart and modern solutions like CrowdStrike to keep their assets secure. They pointed to CrowdStrike's fileless attack detection and cloud-native architecture as significant improvements over their old legacy AV system, which failed to identify the first PowerShell-based breach that initiated the Ryuk rollout.

Similarly, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, a worldwide Japanese corporation, also reported a cyber attack. There was an internal breach in 2020 that revealed sensitive data owing to illegal access through its Thai operations. The corporation acknowledged that its previous security systems lacked consolidated visibility and cross-border threat correlation.

To prevent any further risk or cyber attack, Kawasaki switched to CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, a fully managed endpoint protection service. Kawasaki's security staff in Tokyo were able to easily control endpoints from Europe to Southeast Asia using Falcon's cloud-native interface.

Businesses understand that the impact of a security breach is not small. Data loss, financial losses, reputational harm, and in the worst scenarios, the victim's death from shock and mental distress are all possible outcomes of security breaches. Although companies are implementing strong encryption mechanisms, sensitive files are still prone to malware attacks like phishing, ransom attacks, or lack of awareness in staff etc.

Organizations and businesses all around the world are taking cybersecurity seriously and are going the extra mile to ensure security against the dynamic cyber attacks. To do so, some organizations are arranging awareness sessions to train their staff regarding cyber attacks, some companies are hiring professional cybersecurity teams to make their organization compliant to implement international cybersecurity standards like ISO27001, while others are investing in advanced tools like CrowdStrike.

By using CrowdStrike, companies have reported a notable decrease in dwell time and enhanced security against cyberattacks. In contrast to traditional antivirus software, CrowdStrike utilizes behavior-based detection, enabling it to identify fileless and signatureless attacks that earlier solutions often miss.

CrowdStrike's Threat Graph processes more than 1 trillion security events each day. CrowdStrike's analysis of this massive dataset finds attack patterns and indications of compromise (IOCs) significantly sooner than standard techniques.

In 2023, CrowdStrike reported that 71% of all attacks were malware-free. This means they were not detectable by signature-based technologies. Today the attacks are using modern and complicated ways to gain access to the systems. They use trusted programs, run scripts in memory, or use legal credentials to travel laterally across a network. All these techniques cannot be detected by the traditional antivirus and will easily evade the system.

As businesses are moving towards a remote and hybrid work culture, cloud-native settings with endpoints spread across several countries are adding complexity. In this scenario, traditional antivirus systems fail because they are designed for on-premise security.

CrowdStrike Integrations

CrowdStrike's most prominent feature includes its seamless compatibility with other critical components that are included in the current security stack. CrowdStrike can work closely with a wide range of technologies, thereby enhancing centralized visibility, contextual intelligence, and automated response for better security of the system.

Here’s how it integrates different technologies:

• SIEM Platforms: CrowdStrike gives comprehensive data and threat information that is integrated right into SIEM platforms. SIEM platforms include Splunk and IBM QRadar. It is extremely beneficial for SOC teams as they utilize that information and correlate it with logs from other sources. This increases overall efficiency and results in faster detection and more thorough analysis.
• SOAR Tools: Different SOAR platforms are also compatible with CrowdStrike, and together, they automate incident response procedures. For instance, when Falcon identifies any suspicious behavior, it may automatically execute a playbook to cater to the problem, and then generate alerts to inform the security team. Overall, this aids in conducting thorough forensic analysis.
• Identity Solutions: CrowdStrike's connection with identity providers also creates an additional layer of security by linking endpoint behavior to user identification. This is especially effective for identifying abnormal logins, credential misuse, or lateral movement associated with compromised user accounts.

CrowdStrike is extremely flexible, and the integration feature allows the organization to build a single security architecture that is both scalable and agile. It is not just an endpoint protection product; it is a fundamental entity of an intelligent, networked defense ecosystem which is capable of detecting attacks in seconds and then sharing insights across the whole stack.

Is CrowdStrike the right Choice for you?

By looking at the advanced features CrowdStrike has to offer, it is inarguable that it surely is a good choice for protection against cyber attacks in organizations. They offer a wide array of services like industry-leading endpoint protection, threat intelligence, and even the possibility for your security team to obtain key CrowdStrike certifications. These qualifications are necessary for enhancing the skill set of the security team, provided the advancements in the hackers’ and cybercriminals' attacks.

CrowdStrike's methodology is unique in a way that its fundamental strategy is to protect rather than detect or react. This means the more data they have about the nature of the attack, the better they can avoid it in future. The use of AI will learn the patterns of the attack and then the security team can make upgrades as per that.

If you are a small scale company or a large one, private or public, healthcare or educational, CrowdStrike offers a wide array of services to assist in safeguarding and securing your confidential data. It also has free and paid versions of its products so that you can choose as per your budget.

Furthermore, CrowdStrike is an endpoint security solution that is not only an antivirus solution but also extends its services to detect and prevent harmful network activity. CrowdStrike has also worked on offering services that are compatible with other technologies to safeguard organizations against cyberattacks. They are easy to integrate into systems without having to worry about the amendments or any other complicated requirements before using CrowdStrike.

Conclusion

In today’s ever-changing digital world, traditional antivirus solutions are not enough to combat the intricate and sophisticated advanced threats. Rise in sophisticated phishing tactics, ransomware attacks on important businesses, and tighter regulations are all clear reminders of why implementing cutting-edge solutions has become integral for businesses. Different sectors, ranging from healthcare to finance, increasingly confront ransomware, phishing, fileless malware, insider attacks, and zero-day vulnerabilities that cannot be detected using the traditional antivirus.

So now more businesses are inclined to CrowdStrike as it provides a contemporary, scalable, and intelligent solution that enables enterprises to identify, prevent, and respond to attacks in real time. It is not just an antivirus, it offers so much more with its AI-powered engine, cloud-native architecture, and proactive threat hunting, it is a full endpoint security solution.

As enterprises want to enhance their security posture and secure confidential data, manage compliance, and establish cyber resilience, it's no wonder that CrowdStrike is increasingly preferred over standard antivirus software.

We at FunctionEight help businesses stand out against the competition. Whether it’s about selecting the right software for your firm or integrating new tools into the existing system you have, our skilled experts have got you covered. We provide comprehensive end-to-end solutions for your needs and business objectives.

If you’re looking for cybersecurity training, our experts have got you covered. FunctionEight can help. Get in touch today!