CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor also linked to Linux kernel panics and crashes

Sorry to hijack this post, but for affected admins reading this: how is the recovery process going? What is your estimated time to normalcy?

Also, for Linux and especially BSD admins: has this incident affected your perspective on EDR/XDR systems in the kernel? What would you suggest as an alternative to ensure regulatory compliance?

I do manage a few Linux machines (firewall passes only http and https -> nginx -> custom backend), but I'd never heard of Crowdstrike before. I don't even know what their product is supposed to do. As far as I can see, kernel level protection could only help prevent someone bypassing the firewall and trigger an exploit in nginx. But if Crowdstrike knows about such exploits, everyone does, and the firewall or nginx gets patched.

What am I missing?

Edit: I know it is supposed to implement "EDR", but it's always explained in the vaguest of terms.

> But if Crowdstrike knows about such exploits, everyone does

This is actually the most important thing happening with EDR as a concept, it handles novel cases that have never been seen before, with a human review very quickly. Our csirt has an SLA of 3 minutes.

It's right there in the name acronym. Detection and Response.

So like let's say a user of a computer in my fleet ran something infected with malware that had enough diligence to have a unique file signature. It puts itself to startup items in a creative way and then calls back home with just a standard SSH connection.

In that case are you telling me their pitch is that they detect this behavior, dispatch some human agent from their CSIRT within 3 minutes to remotely but manually come check the binary, dump some strings, do some reverse engineering and track the CC server etc?

Not necessarily from Crowdstrike CSIRT, but I have experience of security calling me back within 30 minutes of changing system security impacting file to verify that it was done by me and not something else.

Probably because they had already looked at the modification which was benign so slower escalation path in absence of other indicators.