On July 19, 2024, endpoint detection and response supplier CrowdStrike was concerned in a worldwide IT outage that affected over 8.5 million Home windows gadgets worldwide. In accordance with CrowdStrike, a defective content material replace for its Falcon Sensor software program brought on the disruption — leading to a big variety of Home windows gadgets to crash.
This error led to main airways, emergency companies, media retailers and different companies with laptop methods blocked by the notorious Blue Display of Dying. You possibly can learn TechRepublic’s in-depth protection of the CrowdStrike outage right here.
SEE: How you can Begin a Profession in Cybersecurity (TechRepublic Premium)
Whereas CrowdStrike has since deployed a repair, it’s comprehensible for companies to be cautious of CrowdStrike as a viable EDR supplier given the size of the incident. When you fall on this boat, we’ve obtained you lined. On this article, we check out the very best CrowdStrike options and rivals for you and your group.
High CrowdStrike options comparability
Whereas all of the EDR options on this checklist carry out properly by way of risk detection, they differ in key features like market efficiency, ease of deployment and preliminary pricing.
SentinelOne Singularity: Greatest total CrowdStrike different
My go-to CrowdStrike EDR different is SentinelOne Singularity. It contains computerized risk decision permitting for one-click remediation; gives role-based entry management and multi-tenant administration; and presents a novel Storyline characteristic for automated contextualization of occasions throughout all system platforms.
In Gartner’s 2023 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Safety Platforms, SentinelOne was deemed a Chief within the EDR area and was praised for its intuitive and customizable consumer expertise and broad platform help.
SEE: CrowdStrike vs Trellix (2024): What Are the Predominant Variations? (TechRepublic)
I personally like how SentinelOne merges EPP and enterprise-grade EDR capabilities into one platform, providing a complete safety answer in a single service.
Why I selected SentinelOne
I selected SentinelOne as my finest total different for its sturdy steadiness of top quality detection and comparatively reasonably priced pricing. Per my analysis, SentinelOne is considered a strong alternative for CrowdStrike — particularly because it presents arguably comparable EDR efficiency at decrease total pricing.
Pricing
Whereas SentinelOne presents a set of safety options, its most important EDR software program is obtainable in 4 subscription packages: Singularity Management, Full, Business and Enterprise. Under is a fast overview of pricing and have inclusions for every:
- Singularity Management – $79.99 per endpoint; EDR, role-based entry management and multi-tenant administration.
- Singularity Full – $159.99 per endpoint; all Management options plus XDR capabilities and 14-day information retention.
- Singularity Business – $209.99 per endpoint; all Full options plus managed risk searching, ITDR and 30-day information retention.
- Singularity Enterprise – Name for curated pricing; all Business options plus community and vulnerability administration and deployment companies.
Options
- Behavioral detection and evaluation.
- Customizable detection logic for computerized mitigation.
- One-click remediation and rollback.
- 14 to 30-day information retention, relying on plan.
Execs and cons
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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Greatest for Microsoft ecosystems
One other sturdy CrowdStrike substitute I like to recommend is Microsoft Defender for Endpoint or MDE. MDE makes use of AI-powered know-how to guard in opposition to ransomware, cyberattacks and different adversaries at an enterprise degree. Like SentinelOne, MDE is acknowledged as a Chief in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for EPPs and was additionally named a Chief within the Forrester Wave Endpoint Safety, This fall 2023 report.
SEE: CrowdStrike vs Sophos (2024): Which Answer Is Higher for Your Enterprise? (TechRepublic)
Except for AI capabilities, MDE presents a worldwide risk intelligence database, granular controls and insurance policies and a unified portal protecting all endpoints and machines.
Why I selected Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
I picked MDE as a no brainer alternative for companies which are already closely invested in Microsoft’s suite of merchandise. That is very true given Microsoft’s 365 E5 software program package deal that not solely contains MDE, but additionally its different flagship companies similar to Phrase, Outlook and OneDrive.
Pricing
MDE has two subscription plans: MDE P1 and P2. P1 is their primary endpoint safety service with next-generation anti-malware and endpoint firewall capabilities. In the meantime, P2 presents the complete EDR service plus automated investigation and remediation and sandbox performance. Each MDE P1 and P2 are bundled with Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5, respectively.
I consider the very best worth is to go for Microsoft’s intensive 365 E5 package deal that features the complete MDE EDR and different Microsoft companies. Under is the value for every 365 bundle:
- Microsoft 365 E3: $33.75 per consumer, monthly; Home windows for Enterprise, 1TB of cloud storage and MDE P1.
- Microsoft 365 E5: $54.75 per consumer, monthly; all 365 E3 options plus superior safety and compliance capabilities; enterprise analytics and MDE P2.
Options
- Risk intelligence and cyberthreat analytics.
- Automated remediation.
- Prioritized safety suggestions.
- Auto-deployed deception strategies.
Execs and cons
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Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR: Greatest for transition into XDR
If your enterprise is contemplating a transition into prolonged detection and response, Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR is an efficient alternative. It presents machine-learning-powered analytics spanning a number of information sources, has clever alert grouping that reduces investigation time and contains granular risk searching through prolonged information assortment and evaluation.
SEE: VMware Carbon Black vs CrowdStrike Falcon (2024): Which Device Is Greatest For Your Enterprise? (TechRepublic)
As an answer, I like Cortex XDR’s vast protection in endpoint safety. It gives next-generation antivirus capabilities, disk encryption, USB system management, host firewall, amongst others.
Palo Alto Networks was additionally named a Chief in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for EPPs. Within the report, it was lauded for “its world attain and multilingual product localization” that helps it stand as a viable decide for a lot of companies worldwide.
Why I selected Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR
I chosen Cortex XDR for companies that wish to swap over from an EDR into an XDR answer. As an XDR, Palo Alto Cortex permits companies to safe their community, endpoints, cloud and different features of their enterprise — providing a holistic safety answer that covers extra bases. That is particularly crucial in defending in opposition to extra superior assaults that have an effect on organizations as we speak.
Pricing
For concrete data on pricing, I extremely counsel contacting Palo Alto Networks through its web site or different official channels.
- Cortex XDR pricing: Contact Palo Alto Networks.
Options
- Goal-built ransomware engine.
- Endpoint firewall and system management.
- Behavioral risk safety.
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Bitdefender GravityZone: Greatest for proactive endpoint safety
In case your precedence is prevention, Bitdefender GravityZone is an honest alternative. GravityZone is designed to deal with fileless assaults, ransomware, phishing and different widespread threats to companies. It additionally makes use of a easy, centralized administration console for straightforward viewing of all information and instruments accessible within the platform.
SEE: 5 Greatest Endpoint Detection & Response Options for 2024 (TechRepublic)
In accordance with the Forrester Wave Endpoint Safety, This fall 2023 findings, Bitdefender stands out for its “aggressive prevention-first mindset.” Per Forrester, that is showcased by way of its intensive endpoint management capabilities, vulnerability administration and system/OS-neutral capabilities.
Why I selected Bitdefender GravityZone
I’ve Bitdefender GravityZone on this checklist for its easy and proactive method to endpoint safety. It additionally will get factors for its intuitive subscription and pricing scheme. Via its official web site, Bitdefender GravityZone permits IT directors to see an approximate worth of a subscription corresponding with the precise variety of endpoints they need lined and the contract size desired.
Pricing
Bitdefender has a variety of subscription packages which may be personalized based mostly on the variety of gadgets and the size of contract. It has three most important tiers for small companies: Small Enterprise Safety, Enterprise Safety, Enterprise Safety Premium.
Under is a short glimpse of every tier’s pricing and have inclusions:
- Small Enterprise Safety: $199.49; 10 gadgets for 1 yr; safety in opposition to phishing, ransomware and web-based assaults.
- Enterprise Safety: $259.99; 10 gadgets for 1 yr; community assault protection and net entry controls.
- Enterprise Safety Premium: $570.49; 10 gadgets for 1 yr; sandbox analyzer and fileless assault protection capabilities.
Options
- Anti phishing and fraud prevention options.
- Ransomware prevention and mitigation.
- Fileless assault safety.
- Actual-time exploit detection.
Execs and cons
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Do you want an alternative choice to CrowdStrike?
It’s sophisticated. As straightforward as it’s to dismiss CrowdStrike and its safety options, there’s a motive why it topped our Greatest EDR software program round-up early this yr. It presents industry-leading efficiency and was widely known because the market chief within the area.
That being stated, it’s additionally onerous to disregard the large penalties caused by its defective software program replace, which brought on greater than eight million Home windows gadgets to crash.
Personally, I feel the choice will rely on your enterprise’ perspective on the incident and the way severely or minimally you had been affected by the disruption.
For organizations that skilled precise enterprise loss because of the outage, wanting into options might be the prudent alternative. In the meantime, companies that had been capable of take care of the problem could decide to stay with CrowdStrike and see how they reply within the coming weeks.
Whichever you select, it’s clear that different EDR suppliers are current which may function viable options as an alternative.
Methodology
My rundown of the highest CrowdStrike EDR options concerned an in-depth evaluation of every EDR’s safety capabilities, pricing and worth for cash.
Particularly, I seemed into official product documentation, characteristic inclusions and impartial findings from acknowledged testing companies to collect information. Moreover, I additionally took heavy consideration of actual consumer testimonials speaking concerning the prime EDR options accessible out there and which of them had been considered the very best CrowdStrike options.
Lastly, I additionally took into consideration what sort of companies or organizations would finest profit from every EDR supplier I listed above.