The rapid decrease in “breakout time,” the period it takes for hackers to infiltrate and exit a system, highlights a pressing concern in cybersecurity today.

Advancements in artificial intelligence are currently favoring adversaries, but data security companies — such as CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. — are developing strategies to help organizations prioritize threats and vulnerabilities.

Breakout time has always been a yardstick for measuring the effectiveness of cybersecurity defenses.

“Last year, they said the average breakout time was an hour and 58 minutes,” said industry analyst Dave Vellante (pictured, left). “The last snapshot they took was 79 minutes.”

The swift compression in breakout time paints a compelling yet concerning picture.

“It doesn’t matter if you find them within 10 days and you take it down to five days, because they’re already taking everything that they want,” Vellante added. “AI is going to help the adversaries in the near term, probably more than it helps the defenders.”

During the Fal.Con event, on an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, Vellante and fellow analyst Lisa Martin (right) discussed the shrinking “breakout time” in cyberattacks and the role of artificial intelligence, emphasizing the need for organizations to prioritize threats more effectively. (* Disclosure below.)

Emerging tools and pricing models: From Charlotte AI to FalconFlex

CrowdStrike’s keynote this year went beyond fear-mongering statistics, diving deep into emerging tools designed to help organizations prioritize threats. Some of the notable mentions, including Falcon for IT, Raptor as the interface for AI, and Charlotte AI designed to assist in exposure management.

“It is, in a way, a magic bullet if it actually works as advertised, because it can help you take all this complex information that’s in logs and other incoming data and narrow it down and prioritize … high-risk incidents,” Vellante said.

The conversations around pricing were also insightful, and full pricing information was planned to be released at today’s financial analyst event, according to Vellante, hinting at the pricing strategy for Falcon Complete. He went on to discuss FalconFlex, a modular pricing model that allows customers to pay only for what they use.

“It’s like AWS On-Demand,” he added, suggesting that organizations could commit to varying levels of spend for better pricing.

During the event, CrowdStrike announced several partnerships, acquisitions and customer awards. AWS was announced as the partner of the year, confirming its status as CrowdStrike’s number one cloud partner. The customer awards went to Mattel and Target, adding an endorsement for CrowdStrike’s solutions.

“The guy from Mattel stood up yesterday and said CrowdStrike basically paid for itself,” Vellante stated.

Looking Ahead: Microsoft as a ‘pain in the neck’ and opportunities in SMB

One undercurrent that ran throughout the event was CrowdStrike’s digs at Microsoft, according to the analysts.

“There was a funny, subtle dig at Microsoft when the logo just came across the screen as they were talking about complexities and vulnerabilities,” Martin said.

The point here is the contention between the two giants, especially as Microsoft expands its security offerings.

“Microsoft is a pain in the neck to companies like CrowdStrike,” Vellante added.

TheCUBE analysts also noted CrowdStrike’s challenges and opportunities in the small and medium-sized business sector. The company’s partnerships with Pax8 Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc., for instance, are promising signs for the SMB market.

It’s a big market, and while Microsoft’s offerings are “really alluring, especially for a lot of SMBs,” CrowdStrike needs to continue working to strengthen its distribution channels in this competitive space, according to Vellante.

Fal.Con 2023 showcased CrowdStrike’s evolving solutions and strategies, marking another milestone in the company’s journey to reinforce cybersecurity measures worldwide. With increasing threats and shrinking breakout times, the cybersecurity landscape has never been more precarious — or more in need of robust solutions, according to the analysts.

“It’s all about the data. CrowdStrike wants your data, because then they can do more with it. They can protect you, remediate, prioritize and act,” Vellante said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Fal.Con event:

(* Disclosure: This is an unsponsored editorial segment. However, theCUBE is a paid media partner for the Fal.Con Conference. CrowdStrike and other sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage do not have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE