Now while investigation and intelligence is what Crowdstrike is known for they are moving to put the knowledge they have gained over the years to use in creating a preventative software platform to help prevent hacking. Now this is a laudable goal, but one that is most likely to end up being in the same boat as malware protection. Any software platform that is capable of effectively blocking hacking attacks would holistically would need to be far too complex to support.

We have seen this type of product before in the form of early firewalls that were designed to keep people off of your computer when connected to the internet. After a limited success the applications became too resource hungry and so they moved to the edge of the corporate network in the form of more complex and advanced firewalls with malware prevention, intrusion protection services (IPS) and even more. So what would Crowdstrike bring to the table that is new when we have an abundance of products and services already?
One guess would be something that was more intelligent that the current IPS+Malware scan. This could be setting up different patterns based on intrusion styles instead of just the raw information or exploit used. Creating software that would be capable of this is not an easy task. You would need to give it a lot of existing data and have the core API apply it intuitively to situations. The down side is that every time there is a shift in hacking methods you are back to square one (just like malware).

As this is the case with almost all security software we have to wonder if these new applications are anything more than a way to create a new revenue stream. Considering the fact that Crowdstrike is not the only company pushing into this arena you can bet that this is a primary motivation. We are not saying that companies like Crowdstrike are not concerned with cutting down on the hacking threat, but we do have a feeling that they are very aware and any software or appliance developed will need constant updating and patching to be effective. These updates are sure to be all part of a monthly (or yearly) maintenance plan that will be happily billed to the end user. As many people have said before’ Cyber Security is a big money maker and it looks like there are a number of new players looking to get on the cash cow…

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