Is CrowdStrike owned by Microsoft?

CrowdStrike has now come into the public eye after a significant incident where a faulty update led to a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), taking many systems offline. Before that, little was known about the company and its reach across many enterprises and millions of users.

Microsoft is often at the forefront of innovation and protection. However, people often wonder if CrowdStrike is owned by Microsoft. Since the Windows BSOD crash, many people blame Microsoft for the outage, but in reality it was CrowdStrike.

What is CrowdStrike?

CrowdStrike is an American cybersecurity company founded in 2011 by George Kurtz, Dmitri Alperovitch, and Gregg Marston, based in Austin, Texas. The company is known for its endpoint protection, threat intelligence, and incident response services. The company quickly gained a reputation for its Falcon platform, which has a market capitalization of approximately $83 billion.

It uses cloud-based technology to detect and prevent security breaches in real-time. Simply put, CrowdStrike is an antivirus and enterprise-grade software that works to prevent threats, hacking, data breaches, and ransomware.

Is CrowdStrike owned by Microsoft?

People often wonder if CrowdStrike is owned by Microsoft. In reality, CrowdStrike is not owned by Microsoft. CrowdStrike and Microsoft are two different entities.

Microsoft, a tech giant with a diverse portfolio including software, hardware and cloud services, has also made big moves in the cybersecurity space. Microsoft’s cybersecurity efforts are deeply integrated into its products, such as Windows Defender and the broader Microsoft Security suite, which includes Azure Security, Office 365 security and enterprise-grade security solutions.

CrowdStrike’s primary products are designed to block hackers and malware, but the company also specializes in investigating large data breaches. In addition to providing security software to industries, CrowdStrike also investigates hacks and tracks hackers. In 2016, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) hired CrowdStrike to investigate a Russian hack of its servers. Similarly, in 2014, Sony Pictures hired CrowdStrike to investigate a cyberattack linked to North Korea.

Microsoft Collaborations with CrowdStrike

It’s worth noting that while CrowdStrike is not owned by Microsoft, the two companies have collaborated in the past.

CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform integrates with Microsoft’s Azure cloud services, allowing enterprises to leverage the strengths of both platforms for enhanced security. In addition to Azure, CrowdStrike is also a cloud provider partner with AWS, Google Cloud, and Red Hat.

Such forms of collaboration are common in the technology sector, where interoperability between different systems can deliver more robust solutions for customers.

Conclusion

CrowdStrike is not owned by Microsoft. Both companies operate independently, although they occasionally collaborate to improve cybersecurity solutions. CrowdStrike’s advanced technology and Microsoft’s extensive cybersecurity tools each bring unique strengths that help create a more secure digital environment.