CrowdStrike — Architecture Overview

Summary

CrowdStrike Falcon provides endpoint detection and response (EDR) across all managed devices, using a lightweight sensor that streams telemetry to CrowdStrike's cloud for real-time threat detection, response, and threat hunting.

Architecture Diagram

flowchart LR
    device[Endpoint Device] --> sensor[Falcon Sensor]
    sensor -->|Telemetry Stream| cloud[CrowdStrike Cloud<br/>Threat Graph]
    cloud --> detect[Detection Engine]
    detect -->|Alert| console[Falcon Console]
    console --> secops[SecOps Team]

    secops -->|Isolate / Remediate| sensor

Components

Component	Role
Falcon Sensor	Lightweight agent installed on every managed endpoint
Threat Graph	CrowdStrike's cloud-based analysis engine correlating telemetry across all customers
Falcon Console	SecOps-facing dashboard for alerts, investigations, and response actions
SecOps Team	Reviews alerts, performs triage, and executes response (isolate host, kill process, etc.)

Detection & Response Flow

1. Falcon Sensor continuously streams process, network, and file activity telemetry to the cloud.
2. Threat Graph analyzes telemetry in real time against known threat behaviors.
3. Suspicious activity generates an alert in the Falcon Console.
4. SecOps triages the alert and can respond directly from the console — network-isolate the host, kill a malicious process, or trigger a deeper investigation.
5. Sensor remains lightweight since heavy analysis happens in the cloud, not on the endpoint.

Related

• Runbooks