What is CrowdStrike? Learn more about the company causing the cyber blackout

Much of the world woke up this Friday (19) to a major “cyber blackout”. The IT crisis was caused by a problematic update implemented by digital security firm CrowdStrike in one of Microsoft’s Azure platform security systems.

A CrowdStrike is a global cybersecurity and threat intelligence companyIt was founded in 2011 by George Kurtz (current CEO), Dmitri Alperovitch, and Gregg Marston and is headquartered in Autin, Texas, USA.

Since its establishment, CrowdStrike has helped investigate many known cyberattacksSuch as the attacks on Sony Pictures services in 2014 and the cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the official organ of the US Democratic Party, in 2015-2016.

Right now, CrowdStrike is considered one of the largest players in the segmentas one of the developers of techniques and applications for highly reliable antivirus systems. The company also invests in artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop more efficient solutions against intrusions.

What is CrowdStrike Falcon?

Its services include the CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor. Launched in 2013, the technology enables a number of “Endpoint Security Solutions” and provides intelligence against digital threats.

The term “endpoint” is equivalent to “end point” or “end point.” The term is used to describe end systemsthat is, computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets connected to a network.

Devices in general three points They are prime targets for intrusions as they are mainly involved in sending and receiving data.

This is where the Falcon platform comes in: The tool is used to detect and respond to threats in systems three points — It’s almost like a traditional antivirus. As University of Melbourne expert Toby Murray explains, it watches for exploitable vulnerabilities in these devices and protects against them when necessary.

Because, Falcon is available on a wide range of computers and systems worldwideIf it detects a problem, it must stop the affected device from communicating and prevent the attack from spreading.

A problematic update caused the problem

You Falcon’s very high access privileges make it almost an operating system-specific programTherefore, any malfunction in it can cause instability in the device and since it is present in many devices, its impact is very great.

That’s what happened this Friday (19): an update released for Falcon caused many Windows 10 computers to freeze, preventing them from restarting and displaying the classic blue screen of death (BSOD).

Following the chaos, the company isolated the issue and implemented an emergency solution, restoring services worldwide.