Illustration, AI-generated from the story text. Tap a panel to read the story through it.
CrowdStrike agreed on Tuesday to buy Fiddler AI, which monitors what agents do, and Dreadnode, which tests AI systems for security holes before deployment. The Wall Street Journal puts the prices at about $400 million and about $95 million, mostly in cash; CrowdStrike's releases give no figures. Fiddler becomes a product called Falcon Observe, and that deal is expected to close in CrowdStrike's fiscal fourth quarter.
The same day it launched an AI kill switch inside Falcon Guardian. A person decides when to pull it.
The tool then blocks the agent from relaunching, cuts its network access and uses connected AI gateways to cut it off from the models that drive its decisions.
It leaves the agent's code in place.
CrowdStrike pays about $495 million for two AI security startups and ships a kill switch for agents
CrowdStrike agreed on Tuesday to buy Fiddler AI, which monitors what agents do, and Dreadnode, which tests AI systems for security holes before deployment. The Wall Street Journal puts the prices at about $400 million and about $95 million, mostly in cash; CrowdStrike's releases give no figures. Fiddler becomes a product called Falcon Observe, and that deal is expected to close in CrowdStrike's fiscal fourth quarter.
The same day it launched an AI kill switch inside Falcon Guardian. A person decides when to pull it. The tool then blocks the agent from relaunching, cuts its network access and uses connected AI gateways to cut it off from the models that drive its decisions. It leaves the agent's code in place. SourcesAABB
Sources
- ACrowdStrike to Acquire Fiddler to Deliver Agent Observability for AI Trustcrowdstrike.com
- ACrowdStrike Introduces the AI Kill Switch for AI Safetycrowdstrike.com
- BCrowdStrike launches AI kill switch (CNBC)cnbc.com
- BCrowdStrike to buy two AI security startups for $495 million (WSJ, not opened; prices from Techmeme's summary)wsj.com
This story ran in the Afternoon Brief of November 3rd 2026.