Cybersecurity Services
At CSP Networks, Sophos has been a trusted and valued strategic partner for more than 11 years. Over this time, we have consistently demonstrated why Sophos outperforms competitors like CrowdStrike by delivering superior, comprehensive security solutions designed to protect your business effectively and reliably.
Sophos Wins Against Crowdstrike
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Proactive Protection
Sophos blocks dangerous websites, disrupts downloading and saving of malicious documents, and prevents more exploitation techniques than CrowdStrike
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Real-Time, On-Device Response
Sophos prioritizes on-device detection while CrowdStrike depends more on cloud-based detection and human-driven responses that delay action
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Dynamic Defenses
Sophos employs multiple dynamic defense mechanisms, such as AAP, that adapt in response to active adversaries. CrowdStrike lacks equivalent capability
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Sophos | CrowdStrike |
|---|---|---|
| Machine learning file detection | Windows only • | |
| Non-executable (PDF, Office, etc.) file detection | • | partial |
| Runtime behavioral protection | • | partial |
| Anti-exploitation | • | partial |
| Web protection (block malicious URLs and IPs) | • | - |
| Web control (category-based content filtering) | • | - |
| Peripheral (device) control | • | • |
| Application control | • | - |
| Data loss prevention (DLP) | • | optional |
| Behavior-based ransomware protection and rollback | • | partial, no rollback |
| Remote ransomware protection and rollback | • | disabled by default, no rollback |
| Behavior-based wiper (MBR) protection and rollback | • | - |
| Automatic account health check | • | - |
| Adaptive attack protection (AAP) | • | - |
| Critical attack warning (estate-wide attack alerts) | • | - |
Detection and Response (EDR/XDR)
| Feature | Sophos | CrowdStrike |
|---|---|---|
| Prioritized detections of suspicious activity | • | • |
| Threat graphs showing detection activity | partial | • |
| Detailed telemetry with contextual investigation pivots | • | partial |
| Pre-built pages for common IOC types, threats | - | • |
| Searchable data lake | • | • |
| Rich on-device data for real-time insights | • | optional |
| Ingestion of third-party data (firewall, email, etc.) | • | • |
| First-party identity detection (Active Directory, etc.) | - | optional |
| First-party firewall and NDR | optional | partial, optional (NDR via OEM) |
| First-party email | optional | - |
| First-party cloud (CSPM, CWP) | optional | optional |
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
| Feature | Sophos | CrowdStrike |
|---|---|---|
| Alert triage and investigation | • | first-party detections only |
| Endpoint threat containment | • | • |
| Endpoint threat remediation | • | • |
| Threat containment via third-party tools | partial | included in Falcon Complete XDR |
| Full, uncapped incident response (IR) | included in MDR Complete | optional |
| Integration of MDR results, comms in console | partial | • |
| Initial setup and ongoing management of policies | initial setup optional (pro serv) | • |
Third-party Proof Points
| Category | Sophos | CrowdStrike |
|---|---|---|
| Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms 2025 | Leader (16 consecutive reports) | Leader (6 consecutive reports) |
| SE Labs Enterprise Endpoint Security (avg of 2024 tests) | 99.3% protection accuracy | 99% protection accuracy (participated in only two of four tests) |
| 2024 MITRE ATT&CK Evaluations: Enterprise | 98.7% analytic coverage | didn’t participate |
| Gartner Peer Insights Voice of the Customer 2025 | Customers’ Choice (EPP & XDR) | Customers’ Choice (EPP only) |
| IDC MarketScape 2024 for Endpoint Security and MDR | Leader (Endpoint + MDR for SMBs) | Leader (Endpoint + MDR for midsize) |
More Reasons To Choose Sophos
Control: Sophos Endpoint enforces corporate policies and reduces the attack surface with features like application control, web filtering, and data control
Better remote ransomware protection: Sophos CryptoGuard protects files even when ransomware isn’t running locally. CrowdStrike recently added a feature named ‘File System Containment’ to prevent a remote device encrypting data via a file share. However, compared to Sophos:
File System Containment is not enabled by default. Also, Falcon Complete customers must request CrowdStrike to have it enabled on their accounts.
Automatic rollback of encrypted content is not supported
The offending remote IP is not automatically blocked from communicating with the network
Strong security by default: Sophos Endpoint ships with a strong base policy and includes account health check to identify potential configuration issues. CrowdStrike defaults to audit-only mode. After configuring protection, it can be difficult to know whether everything is set up correctly.
Localization: Sophos Endpoint is available in nine languages, while the CrowdStrike user interface is available only in English.
Incident response (IR): Sophos MDR Complete includes unlimited incident response at no additional cost. CrowdStrike Falcon Complete does not include incident response when threats extend beyond protected endpoints.
True managed XDR: Sophos MDR detects threats and initiates investigations based on third-party telemetry. CrowdStrike Falcon Complete XDR may ingest third-party data, but it uses the data only to enrich its own first-party detections.
What To Watch Out For
Security hygiene and vulnerability assessment: CrowdStrike modules Falcon Discover and Falcon Insight provide visibility into endpoints’ security posture and missing patches. While CrowdStrike has a more fully developed offering, Sophos’ “Device Exposure” feature provides insight into Windows and macOS devices with missing OS patches. Additionally, Sophos Managed Risk can secure internet-facing assets today with coverage for internal assets to follow soon. Managed Risk is ideal for organizations that lack the resources and skills to get value from a vulnerability management solution like CrowdStrike’s.
Identity protection: CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection is an optional module that provides detection and blocking of Active Directory and other identity-related attacks. Sophos MDR and XDR both provide some visibility but lack the specialized tools and protections that CrowdStrike offers.
Third-party response actions: CrowdStrike’s XDR platform and Managed XDR service offer containment actions via third-party products. For example, they can block an IP address on a firewall or delete an email in Microsoft 365. Sophos XDR/MDR has limited response actions, supporting Okta today with more are on the roadmap.
Detection and response workflows: CrowdStrike Falcon currently provides a better “analyst experience” for understanding, investigating, and acting upon detections of suspicious activity. Sophos is in the process of closing the gap with improvements to the XDR analyst experience.
Managed threat hunting: CrowdStrike offers a service called Falcon OverWatch, which is a managed threat hunting service. It is often added to product quotes and positioned as a managed service, but it doesn’t include the investigation or response that customers would expect from an MDR service. Sophos does not offer an equivalent standalone threat hunting service.
Discovery/Trap-Setting Questions
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Some customers may have a cloud-based secure web gateway, such as Zscaler or Cisco Umbrella. However, those that don’t will leave endpoints exposed unless they block malicious URLs. Sophos Endpoint includes web protection, powered by unique SophosAI machine learning models and SophosLabs threat intelligence. CrowdStrike Falcon does not offer web protection.
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CrowdStrike Falcon depends heavily on detections in the cloud, while Sophos Endpoint prioritizes protection on the endpoint. Cloud-based detections are delayed and require either manual response or a customer-defined automatic response. Either way, realtime blocking of threats provides better protection and less work for the customer.
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Sophos Endpoint detects remote ransomware activity, blocks connection with the offending remote device, and automatically rolls back files that were encrypted in the moments before detection. CrowdStrike’s new File System Containment feature is disabled by default and does not support automatic rollback of encrypted data. See Technical deep dive: Ransomware protection
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CrowdStrike Falcon XDR uses third-party telemetry to enrich CrowdStrike’s own detections. It does not, however, detect new threats based on telemetry from third-party products. Sophos XDR presents detections based on third-party telemetry, first-party telemetry, and Sophos threat intelligence, for a more comprehensive view of a customer’s environment.
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Sophos MDR Complete includes remote incident response, with no fixed limit of incidents or hours, at no additional cost. Incident response is automatically activated by the Sophos MDR team when necessary, ensuring action is taken quickly and the customer can
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focus on their work. CrowdStrike Falcon Complete does not include incident response; a separate retainer is required, and customers will have to contact CrowdStrike and agree to initiate a response when an event occurs. Sophos also offers a Rapid Response IR service and an IR Retainer for customers who do not have MDR Complete.
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Consolidating on a single platform can provide many advantages for customers: cost savings, improved efficiency, easier training for new hires, faster response, and better security outcomes. Sophos offers a range of endpoint/server, network, email, and cloud solutions, all integrated with each other and brought together in Sophos Central and Sophos XDR/MDR. CrowdStrike lacks network and email security solutions, so it leaves gaps for customers, partners, or MSPs attempting to consolidate on a single platform.
Technical Deep Dive: Ransomware Protection
CrowdStrike offers strong local ransomware protection, where malicious processes run on the protected endpoint. However, it cannot roll back any data files that were compromised prior to detection. Sophos CryptoGuard, on the other hand, backs up modified data files in real time (storing only modified blocks to minimize memory use). This allows it to automatically roll back changes to data after detection.
Sophos Endpoint also monitors, backs up, and automatically reverts changes to the master boot record (MBR). Several strains of “wiper” malware—some used for ransom, some for destruction—modify the MBR to deny access to the contents of the HDD/SSD. This feature proved effective, without signature or product updates, in protecting against Russian wipers deployed against Ukrainian targets early in the war. CrowdStrike has no equivalent to this protection layer.
Notably, CrowdStrike has recently added a remote ransomware protection feature named ‘File System Containment’. It looks for malicious behaviors such as mass encryption, suspicious file modifications, and backup deletions targeting SMB shares. When malicious activity is detected, the feature blocks destructive file system actions from the remote host, such as file writes, deletes, or modifications to network shares. Compared to Sophos CryptoGuard:
File System Containment is not enabled by default. Also, Falcon Complete [MDR] customers must request CrowdStrike to have it enabled on their accounts.
Automatic rollback of data encrypted prior to detection is still not supported
The offending remote IP is not automatically blocked from communicating with the network
Technical Deep Dive: Adaptive Attack Protection
Adaptive Attack Protection (AAP) dynamically adjusts an endpoint’s security posture when it detects signs of a hands-on attack. For a limited time, it causes the endpoint to enter a restricted mode that prevents behaviors that otherwise would be allowed. For example, downloading and running new or unknown software shouldn’t be blocked under normal circumstances; it would cause too many problems for users. But, in the midst of an attack, it can prevent the attacker from running previously unseen malware or a remote access tool.
CrowdStrike Falcon does not have a similar ability to dynamically change an endpoint’s security posture. CrowdStrike can argue that it has compound or contextual detections. For example, behavior A and behavior B might not be blocked on their own, but A followed by B will result in a block. This is a valuable form of protection, but it is not equivalent to AAP. When AAP activates, it’s a system-wide lockdown. It’s more like if A and B both occurred, there are now twenty other behaviors that will be blocked whether or not they seem related to A and B. This is a great intermediary step between fully isolating a machine—which could have negative impact on users, especially if it’s a server—and blocking only specific bad behaviors/patterns, which allows an attacker too much opportunity.