We use CrowdStrike Falcon as a managed SOC for intrusion detection on our endpoints.
CrowdStrike Falcon Endpoint Protection
CrowdStrikeExternal reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Is a flexible, fully managed service, and provides peace of mind
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Being a cloud-native solution, CrowdStrike Falcon provides flexibility and always-on protection. This is extremely important to have the best protection available.
It is a fully managed service, so they provide all the necessary updates for us which is helpful.
While CrowdStrike Falcon provides us with better peace of mind in terms of protection, it also generates alerts for potential threats, requiring our investigation. However, the platform further alleviates our anxiety by automatically reviewing unaddressed alerts, offering an additional layer of security. This coverage fosters a heightened sense of security.
CrowdStrike Falcon has been instrumental in preventing breaches, allowing us to operate with significantly increased security compared to the past. This has provided us with much greater peace of mind. While no security solution is foolproof, Falcon has brought us remarkably close.
What is most valuable?
The anomaly detection is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
The portal can be clunky to navigate at times and has room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using CrowdStrike Falcon for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of CrowdStrike Falcon a nine out of ten. The only issue I have had is with an old version of the endpoint that was installed and has proven to be problematic.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
CrowdStrike Falcon is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good and they provide prompt responses to all of our questions.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We implemented CrowdStrike Falcon in response to a security incident. It was the first endpoint detection and response service we had ever used, and we've been utilizing it since 2021.
How was the initial setup?
Deploying the sensors to our endpoints is straightforward. We do have a manual process for deploying the sensors to our endpoints. There are also options to do it through a group policy. It doesn't seem overly complex.
We rolled the solution out to our entire estate which took just over one week. We had up to 300 endpoints and required a team of five people to complete the deployment.
What was our ROI?
CrowdStrike Falcon enables us to save on resources which in turn provides a 20 percent return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
CrowdStrike Falcon offers excellent value for the money for our organization, particularly given our lean IT team. We lack the resources to replicate the full security services they provide without hiring additional personnel. The cost of Falcon is likely comparable to, or even less than, the salary and benefits we'd need for an extra employee. Furthermore, their on-call experts have more expertise, further enhancing the value proposition.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
After a year, we reevaluated our endpoint security solution. We considered several options, including Arctic Wolf, SentinelOne, and Darktrace, alongside our existing Fortinet solutions. We participated in demos and ultimately determined that CrowdStrike's offering, both current and future, remained the best fit. While we hadn't initially explored other options before choosing CrowdStrike, external factors subsequently forced our hand. However, after a year of use and further evaluation, we reaffirmed our decision, concluding that CrowdStrike was still the most suitable solution for our needs.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate CrowdStrike Falcon a nine out of ten.
We have around 300 endpoints and three people who have access to the solution.
Three people are required for maintenance.
CrowdStrike Falcon was recommended by our head office in Germany.
I recommend CrowdStrike Falcon.
Used few system resources, can easily isolate infected machines, and add modules
What is our primary use case?
We use CrowdStrike Falcon for endpoint security and response, and Horizon to manage and protect our data.
Following a 2021 security incident, the general response team recommended implementing CrowdStrike. We adopted their suggestion and found its network threat detection and prevention capabilities invaluable.
What is most valuable?
I like the feature called RTC, the remote time connector. It allows us to connect to a computer via the command line and execute commands for various functions and investigations. This eliminates the need for any additional programs. We can launch the connection and its subcommands from a single console.
The containment feature is another valuable tool. It allows us to isolate any machine exhibiting suspicious behavior or facing a detected threat. Once activated, containment immediately severs the machine's network connection and blocks user access.
What needs improvement?
Despite implementing tuning rules specifically designed to address them, we are still encountering a significant number of false positives. This issue persists even after collaborating with their support team to find a solution.
I have worked with their technical support on several problems that were never fully resolved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using CrowdStrike Falcon for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
While we encountered some bugs with on-demand scanning, the overall performance and stability of the system are positive. CrowdStrike Falcon is less resource-intensive than our old McAfee solution, which often led to performance complaints due to its high memory consumption.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
CrowdStrike Falcon is scalable. Adding new features or licenses to CrowdStrike Falcon is seamless, with no disruption to our system's performance. Installing new modules is easy because it uses the same sensor.
How are customer service and support?
While I've found screen sharing helpful with other support teams, CrowdStrike's technical support has never proactively suggested it. Instead, they've always initiated contact by calling me back after I submitted a ticket. We recently offered to screen share, but it seems it's not their preferred method. The support is good but it is not the best I have used.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, we utilized Carbon Black for our endpoint security needs. However, we transitioned to CrowdStrike for several compelling reasons. As a prominent market competitor with widespread adoption among organizations, CrowdStrike offered a robust platform capable of meeting our evolving security requirements.
The 2021 incident further underscored the importance of robust security tools. CrowdStrike's capabilities proved invaluable in navigating the aftermath and instilled confidence in its continued effectiveness for future challenges.
Beyond its proven track record, CrowdStrike seamlessly integrates with our existing security ecosystem. The platform's comprehensive feature set simplifies endpoint management from a centralized console. Additionally, its granular telemetry across various modules provides invaluable insights during incident detection, enabling us to gather holistic information from each affected machine.
Furthermore, CrowdStrike consolidates our security stack by encompassing next-generation firewalls, endpoint detection and response, and real-time endpoint scanning, eliminating the need for separate solutions like McAfee. This streamlined approach enhances operational efficiency and simplifies security management.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment presented some challenges due to the need to install the solution on all machines. This phase, requiring careful coordination among ten people over several weeks, involved connecting all the computers to the network. However, once this foundation was laid, the subsequent rollout proceeded smoothly.
What about the implementation team?
The implementation was completed in-house by our people.
What was our ROI?
The return on investment is evident in the enhanced security posture achieved through continuous monitoring and immediate isolation of compromised machines. This proactive approach not only mitigates risk but also provides significant peace of mind for our team, alleviating concerns and optimizing their performance.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
While CrowdStrike Falcon offers significant security benefits, its high price point might make it prohibitively expensive for many small and medium-sized businesses, including companies like ours.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate CrowdStrike Falcon a nine out of ten.
CrowdStrike Falcon is a great tool. Investing in proper training on the CrowdStrike Falcon platform is highly recommended for any organization seeking to maximize its potential and avoid navigation struggles within the console. However, it's important to note that effective utilization of Falcon without CrowdStrike's managed services necessitates the formation of a dedicated team responsible for managing the solution.