CrowdStrike Embraces MSSP Partners, Unveils Incident Response Service -

CrowdStrike, an endpoint protection platform provider, has added MSSP, cloud-workload procurement and original equipment manufacturer (OEM)/embedded categories to its Elevate Partner Program.

The company also plans to invest in partnerships and alliances in the UK, Germany, Benelux, India, Singapore, Japan and other "critical regions," according to a prepared statement.

The Elevate Partner Program includes 387 active partners, CrowdStrike indicated. It enables channel partners to use the CrowdStrike Falcon endpoint protection platform to defend their customers against cyberattacks.

CrowdStrike reported 375 percent growth in its partner-sourced business in the first half of 2018. Furthermore, the company recorded a 370 percent increase in deal registrations and 477 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for its partner-driven closed business during the time frame.

CrowdStrike, Dragos Launch Joint Incident Response Service

In addition to the Elevate Partner Program expansion, CrowdStrike this week launched an incident response service in conjunction with Dragos, an industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) cybersecurity solutions provider. The CrowdStrike-Dragos incident response service helps organizations respond to and prevent cyberattacks against endpoints and ICS, the companies said.

CrowdStrike also unveiled new Falcon features and capabilities this week, including:

Device Control: Offers visibility and control over USB devices.

Docker Container Security: Provides Docker container security via the Falcon Insight endpoint detection and response (EDR) solution.

MITRE ATT&CK Framework Support: Ensures Falcon alerts map to the MITRE Adversarial Tactics, Techniques, and Common Knowledge (ATT&CK) Framework.

CrowdStrike launched Falcon X Premium this week, too. Falcon X Premium provides intelligence reports with global indicators of compromise (IoCs), custom malware analysis and Falcon Intelligence application programming interfaces (APIs).

Chatter about all of those moves has generated buzz at this week's Black Hat USA 2018 conference in Las Vegas, where a range of endpoint security companies are vying for customer and partner attention.

What Does the Future Hold for CrowdStrike?

CrowdStrike has raised to more than $480 million in financing and has a total valuation of more than $3 billion. The company also has doubled its revenue and headcount in the past year and looks poised to capitalize on the rising demand for endpoint protection solutions.

The global endpoint security market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.4 percent between 2015 and 2020 and could be worth nearly $17.4 billion by 2020, according to industry analyst MarketsandMarkets. Meanwhile, the increasing frequency of endpoint attacks, need to mitigate IT security risks and rapid push for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies among global organizations are some of the factors that could accelerate this sector's growth.