CrowdStrike wins in the category of Best Identity and Access Management Solution for its Falcon Next-Gen Identity Security, a unified platform designed to help organisations defend against increasingly sophisticated identity-based attacks targeting human users, machine accounts and emerging AI agent identities.

The company positions the platform around a growing reality in enterprise security: attackers are increasingly logging in rather than breaking in. As credential theft, session hijacking and identity abuse become central to modern attack chains, CrowdStrike argues organisations require integrated identity protection that extends beyond traditional identity and access management controls.

Falcon Next-Gen Identity Security is designed to secure the full hybrid identity lifecycle across on-premises, cloud and SaaS environments, combining initial access protection, privileged access management (PAM), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), SaaS identity security and continuous risk-aware authorisation within a single platform.

A key part of CrowdStrike’s strategy is consolidation. The company positions Falcon as a unified architecture that combines telemetry from identities, endpoints, cloud environments and SaaS applications through a single platform and sensor. According to CrowdStrike, this approach improves visibility across hybrid environments while reducing operational complexity and tool sprawl that often accompanies fragmented identity security deployments.

The platform also reflects the growing importance of protecting non-human identities and AI-driven systems as organisations increasingly adopt automation, machine identities and generative AI technologies. CrowdStrike says continuous, context-aware authorisation enables organisations to adapt access decisions dynamically based on evolving user and device risk. CrowdStrike cites a Forrester Total Economic Impact study reporting 310% ROI and $1.26 million in customer benefits over three years, alongside reported payback in under six months. 

Judges described Falcon Next-Gen Identity Security as a standout, winner-level submission with a clear and coherent strategy aligned to the way modern attacks increasingly target identities, credentials and active sessions rather than exploiting traditional perimeter weaknesses.

“A winning entry that impressed the judges with its unified, risk-aware identity protection, strong commercial traction and clearly evidenced customer value.”

The judging panel praised the platform’s ability to deliver real-time, risk-aware protection across human, non-human and AI agent identities, describing this breadth of coverage as highly relevant to the future direction of enterprise identity security.

Judges also identified the broader Falcon platform as a major differentiator, highlighting the unified integration of identity, endpoint, cloud and SaaS telemetry as a significant operational advantage for organisations seeking to consolidate security operations and improve threat visibility.

Kelley Damore Chief Content Officer CyberRisk Alliance

Kelley Damore is Chief Content Officer at CyberRisk Alliance, where she leads content strategy across the company’s digital brands, research, communities and live events serving CISOs and security practitioners. At CyberRisk Alliance, she is focused on delivering 365-day engagement, trusted journalism and actionable insights to help security leaders navigate an increasingly complex threat landscape.