Capabilities · Whisper vs the EDR/XDR market

Compare us to anyone. We picked the hardest column first.

Six vendors, eight categories, 79 capabilities, 474 cells, every one carrying a source. The default column is CrowdStrike, the account every buyer benchmarks; add or swap any of the market's leaders and the meters recompute. Where a rival leads, the grid says so at the same weight, cited from the rival's own words. Where Whisper leads, the claim traces to a proof a stranger can run.

79capability rows across 8 categories
474cells, every one with a resolvable source
89sources · rival claims cite the rival's own page
7.53B / 40.3Bnodes / edges in the internet graph behind the scoring plane
The spine

Four moves a host-only EDR cannot bolt on.

The grid below scores 79 rows fairly, and most of them are contested territory. Four are not. They are properties of operating the DNS and the network the fleet rides, and the incumbents' own architecture forecloses them. The grid is the evidence; this is the thesis.

Move 1 · identity

Identity on the wire, not in a console

Every agent, and every sub-agent it spawns, gets a routable IPv6 /128: DNSSEC-signed, DANE-pinned, verifiable keyless by any stranger with dig. An opaque vendor agent-ID exists only inside that vendor's console; the internet cannot check it.

see the Network & Identity rows ↓
Move 2 · resolution

It serves the DNS the fleet points at

The fleet points at Whisper like 1.1.1.1. Every destination is scored graph-first at the resolution plane, against a 7.53B-node / 40.3B-edge graph of the internet's naming and routing, before the connection is ever made. Host-only EDR observes DNS; it does not serve it.

see the Backend & Graph rows ↓
Move 3 · the attacker's half

ATT&CK columns a host sensor cannot see

Reconnaissance and Resource Development happen on the attacker's own infrastructure: their domains, their certificates, their ASNs. A host sensor is structurally blind there. Whisper scores those columns natively, from the same graph that answers the fleet's DNS.

see the Detection & ATT&CK rows ↓
Move 4 · containment

Containment that survives root

Revoke the /128, default-deny at the resolver, and the identity is gone from the internet at DNS TTL, enforced off the host. Containment that runs on the host is the first thing an attacker with root removes; ours is not on the host to remove.

see the Response & Containment rows ↓
The matrix

79 rows, eight categories, every cell sourced.

Same data as the scorecard above, one drill apart: open a category for its per-sensor and per-backend rows, or use the overview / detail toggle in the column header. The faint ◦ on a cell is its source: hover reads the claim, click opens the references drawer.

yes has the capability partial has it with material caveats no does not have it n/a not applicable / not disclosed clearly leads the row ◦ the source, one hover away
capabilityWhisperCrowdStrike
L1Sensor & Telemetrythey leadWhisper 83% · CrowdStrike 92%
Single unified agent (EPP+EDR+XDR in one agent)
Whisper: yes◦

Single MIT-licensed Go binary, cross-compiled per platform

CrowdStrike: yes◦

One lightweight Falcon sensor, all modules

Kernel-independent sensor (user-space / eBPF, no loadable kernel module)
Whisper: yes★◦

User-space on every OS: eBPF/NETLINK+fanotify (Linux), ETW (Windows), Apple ES via Swift daemon (macOS); brain deliberately off-host

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Windows still a kernel-mode driver (Channel File 291 BSOD'd ~8.5M hosts); Linux eBPF, macOS ES

Process-execution telemetry (exec + parent-process graph)
Whisper: partial◦

NETLINK (Linux) / ETW (Windows) exec collector, parent graph in both; macOS ships an entitlement-free exec collector (a kern.proc.all process-table sampler with proc_pidpath, argv and the kernel code-signing identity); the higher-fidelity ES exec push remains gated on the Apple Endpoint Security entitlement

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Process execution streamed to cloud

File-system telemetry (create/modify/rename/delete)
Whisper: partial◦

fanotify (Linux) / ETW File (Windows); macOS ES file events are built and gated on the Apple Endpoint Security entitlement (flip-on-grant)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

File telemetry

Network-connection telemetry (outbound connect)
Whisper: yes◦

Live on all three platforms: Linux + Windows, and now macOS via a calm entitlement-free libproc socket sampler (proven on real hardware, 58 real conn events, correct in/out classification). Real-time per-flow is the one gated upgrade.

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Network-connection telemetry cross-platform

DNS-query telemetry (observing qname)
Whisper: yes◦

qname collector on Linux; and Whisper IS the resolver so it sees every query (macOS NE-gated)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

DNS-query telemetry streamed to cloud

Registry telemetry (Windows)
Whisper: yes◦

ETW registry visibility on Windows

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Registry telemetry

Script / command-line telemetry
Whisper: yes◦

exec argv captured; recovery-tool argv classifiers

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Script + command-line activity

Real-time memory / injection visibility
Whisper: partial◦

Windows VirtualQueryEx sweep live, ETW-TI built-dark; Linux post-hoc /proc maps sweep; the macOS real-time path (ES REMOTE_THREAD/MPROTECT/MMAP + DYLD vector) is built and gated on the Apple Endpoint Security entitlement, which darkens the memory path; exec now ships an entitlement-free producer and the file collector is proven on real Apple hardware

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Mature in-memory/injection detection (IOA)

Measured, calm footprint with a published resource SLA
Whisper: yes★◦

cgroup-v2 SLA (CPUQuota=25%, MemoryHigh=150M/Max=250M, IOWeight=10) + self-metered heartbeat; ~17MB measured under 1169 exec events; adaptive calm scheduler

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Marketed lightweight; precise footprint not published

Offline / disconnected protection
Whisper: yes◦

On-device correlators + fail-open collectors keep serving offline

CrowdStrike: yes◦

On-sensor ML + IOA prevention offline; full EDR needs cloud

Tamper protection / anti-uninstall
Whisper: partial◦

Structural answer: brain + containment live OFF the host, so killing the thin fail-open agent does not blind or lift containment; no hardened on-host self-protect emphasized

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Anti-tamper; kernel residency cited as tamper resistance

L2Detection & ATT&CKlevelWhisper 73% · CrowdStrike 77%
Behavioral ransomware detection (T1486 / T1490)
Whisper: yes◦

Canary + mass-write + uniform-ext burst + mass-delete fusion + recovery-tool argv; fired live @1.0 end to end on Windows; on macOS the engine is built and its ES feed is entitlement-gated, so it has never fired on a live Mac

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Behavioral ransomware IOA; MITRE 2025 100% protection claim

Dropper / event-chain correlation (write -> exec -> connect)
Whisper: yes◦

the event-chain engine links write->exec->outbound-connect in order; fired live (Windows 0.9)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

IOA behavioral chains

Process injection detection (T1055)
Whisper: partial◦

Windows + Linux are post-hoc / built-dark; the macOS real-time path is built and gated on the same Apple Endpoint Security entitlement

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Mature injection detection

Driver-blocklist / BYOVD (T1068)
Whisper: yes◦

85-rule ETW ImageLoad matcher (45 name + 40 sha256); name lane live, fires even when memory-integrity is off (Windows)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Vulnerable-driver / BYOVD coverage

Open, portable rule engine (Sigma / DRL)
Whisper: yes★◦

Pure-Go sigma-go over 79 bundled rules (34 upstream SigmaHQ verbatim under DRL 1.1, 45 first-party under MIT) + operator rule dir, per-GOOS admission, no GPL packs

CrowdStrike: no◦

Proprietary IOA engine; no open Sigma engine

Static / ML pre-execution NGAV
Whisper: partial◦

Known-good allowlist + graph reputation; YARA-X built-dark; no heavy on-device ML AV model (younger analytic layer, stated)

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

On-sensor ML NGAV refined over a decade

Cloud ML / large behavioral-analytics stack
Whisper: partial◦

Behavioral engines + graph reputation; analytic breadth narrower than incumbents' decade-old ML stacks (stated honestly)

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

Cloud ML + IOA behavioral analytics

Local, zero-network known-good hash allowlist
Whisper: yes★◦

Local O(1) map seeded from fleet dpkg hashes (3075 live); zero network lookup

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Cloud reputation / allowlisting

YARA file / memory scanning
Whisper: partial◦

YARA-X engine present but built-dark (CGO, opt-in tag; default ships the stub)

CrowdStrike: partial◦

YARA supported via custom IOAs / RTR

JA3 / JA4 TLS client fingerprinting
Whisper: partial◦

Engine reference-pinned + unit-tested but built-dark (no production capture tap yet)

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Some TLS/network fingerprinting via cloud telemetry

ATT&CK technique mapping (on-host tactics)
Whisper: yes◦

64 live-capable named on-host techniques across Linux 45 / Windows 44 (57 of the 91 mapped are at the parent technique), verified per-platform against a coverage manifest. A further 27 are macOS-only and ALL 70 macOS entries are feed-gated on the Apple Endpoint Security entitlement, so they are built rather than live; telemetry visibility (37/37) reported separately from named detection, never merged.

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Detections mapped to ATT&CK; multiple published MITRE rounds

Adversary-INFRASTRUCTURE ATT&CK columns (Recon TA0043 / Resource-Dev TA0042) from the attacker's own domains/IPs/certs
Whisper: yes★◦

Now emitted as NAMED ATT&CK-tagged detections, not just scored: 19 techniques across Reconnaissance TA0043 + Resource-Development TA0042 (+ C2 / Exfil), origin=graph, each with a keyless re-runnable receipt, on the 7.53B/40.3B internet graph. The four columns no host-only EDR can reach.

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Deep finished intel (Counter Adversary Ops) but inferred from host + reporting, not a live resolution control point

C2-infrastructure + exfil-destination reputation at the resolution plane (act before the connection is made)
Whisper: yes★◦

Named C2-infrastructure (T1071.001/T1568.002 DGA/T1572/T1090/T1102) + exfil-destination (T1048/T1567) findings at the resolution plane, acted before the connect. Combined with the on-host set: 103 distinct techniques across 14 of 14 tactics.

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Reputation from intel; the host observes the connection, does not gate it at resolution

GenAI SOC assistant (NL triage / hunting)
Whisper: no◦

No marketed GenAI copilot; control is a single Cypher verb + graph queries

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

Charlotte AI generative triage + NL-to-CQL hunting

Validated low-alert / signal-to-noise posture
Whisper: partial◦

Calm-by-design + separate telemetry-vs-analytic reporting, but alert volume not independently MITRE-measured

CrowdStrike: yes◦

SE Labs 100% accuracy, zero FP; MITRE zero-FP claim

L3Backend, Analytics & GraphmoatWhisper 89% · CrowdStrike 56%
Cross-customer security-telemetry graph (hosts/workloads/identities)
Whisper: partial◦

Per-endpoint + cross-tenant graph exists but production scale is small/early vs incumbents

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

Threat Graph: 40+ PB, trillions events/day, ~70M req/sec across all customers

Internet-scale naming/routing graph (domains, IPv4/6, ASN, RDAP, certs, passive DNS)
Whisper: yes★◦

7.53B-node / 40.3B-edge graph OF THE INTERNET ITSELF - the structural inverse of a host-telemetry graph; no host-only EDR has this

CrowdStrike: no◦

Threat Graph is security telemetry, not an internet naming/routing graph

Serves the DNS: graph-first policy resolver the fleet points at
Whisper: yes★◦

Whisper IS the resolver (agents point at it like 1.1.1.1); every destination scored graph-first at the resolution plane, real DNS when graph has no opinion

CrowdStrike: no◦

Observes DNS as telemetry; not a recursive/authoritative resolver for devices

Per-endpoint graph, Cypher/graph-queryable
Whisper: yes◦

Per-/128 graph (processes over churn + distinct destinations) served over one Cypher /api/query

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Threat Graph per-host views

Graph JOIN depth (process -> DNS -> peer -> ASN -> actor -> cross-tenant, temporal, nested subtree)
Whisper: yes★◦

The moat: deep joins from on-host telemetry into the internet graph + 1,916 ACTOR nodes (344 of them carrying USES_TECHNIQUE edges) and across tenants - not one-hop enrichment

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Rich cross-customer telemetry joins, but not into an internet-infrastructure graph

Finished threat-intelligence program (adversary tracking, human research)
Whisper: partial◦

Graph carries the full ATT&CK taxonomy + 1,916 ACTOR nodes (344 of them carrying USES_TECHNIQUE edges), but not a human finished-intel shop

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

Counter Adversary Ops: 250+ adversaries, 2,300+ reports/yr

Hunting query language
Whisper: yes◦

Cypher - graph-native queries over the endpoint + internet graph

CrowdStrike: yes◦

CQL (CrowdStrike Query Language)

Data retention (default window; storage economics)
Whisper: yes◦

Node-local, fixed-cost partition-drop retention, no external store on a hot path

CrowdStrike: partial◦

NG-SIEM ~7-day default, extendable to 36 months (paid)

Customer-queryable cross-tenant correlation
Whisper: yes◦

Cross-tenant graph is queryable (small scale today, but self-serve)

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Cross-customer signal informs detection fleet-wide, not customer-queryable

L4Network & IdentitymoatWhisper 80% · CrowdStrike 30%
Operates authoritative DNS + reverse-DNS (PTR / ip6.arpa) for agent identities
Whisper: yes★◦

Dynamic forward zones (delegated from Cloudflare) + dynamic reverse DNS + per-/128 RDAP + inet6num docs

CrowdStrike: no◦

Not a DNS operator

DNS-layer policy enforcement (block/allow at resolution, pre-connection)
Whisper: yes★◦

Per-geo/listing/category and per-device policy applied at the resolver before the connection is made. Lead is over the EDR/XDR cohort this matrix compares: an SSE platform (Cloudflare Gateway, Zscaler, Cisco Umbrella) has DNS-layer policy as an architectural default and would not be led here

CrowdStrike: no◦

Observes DNS; no resolver-level enforcement

Verifiable identity-on-the-wire (routable per-agent /128, DNSSEC/DANE-anchored, keyless-verifiable)
Whisper: yes★◦

Routable /128 per agent from 2a04:2a01::/32 (AS219419), FCrDNS + DANE TLSA 3 1 1, DNSSEC-signed, 7 keyless proofs; sensors pre-auth by their /128

CrowdStrike: no◦

Directory/account identity (AD/Entra/Okta), not a routable wire identity

Per-sub-agent / nested identity (a distinct routable identity per spawned agent)
Whisper: yes★◦

A routable /128 per agent AND per sub-agent - built for AI agents spawning sub-agents

CrowdStrike: no◦

No per-sub-agent network identity

Directory / account ITDR (AD / Entra / Okta behavioral detection)
Whisper: no◦

Not directory ITDR - Whisper answers 'which routable address', not 'which user/account'

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

Falcon Identity/ITDR: AD/Entra/Okta, real-time credential-abuse, automated containment

Per-agent egress / source-bound traffic (agent's own /128)
Whisper: yes★◦

WireGuard Tier-1 (routed) or SOCKS5/HTTP Tier-1.5 source-bound via AnyIP + IP_FREEBIND over 2a04:2a01::/32; every flow attributable by reverse-DNS

CrowdStrike: no◦

No per-agent routable egress fabric

Per-agent firewall / byte-metering from the network position
Whisper: yes◦

Per-/128 firewall driven over Cypher + per-agent byte-metering, enforced off-host

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Host-firewall management (on the endpoint agent)

Host firewall management (traditional, on-endpoint)
Whisper: partial◦

Not the primary surface; policy lives at the resolver + egress plane

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Falcon Firewall Management across Win/macOS/Linux

Network Detection & Response (NDR) sensor tier
Whisper: partial◦

Resolution-plane visibility instead of a packet-NDR sensor; JA3/JA4 tap built-dark

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Network containment, but no dedicated NDR sensor line

Reverse-DNS / RDAP attribution of every outbound flow to an identity
Whisper: yes★◦

Reverse-DNS on the egress /128 + per-/128 RDAP attributes every outbound flow to a specific agent identity

CrowdStrike: no◦

No wire-level per-flow identity attribution

L5Response & ContainmentlevelWhisper 68% · CrowdStrike 64%
Process kill / terminate
Whisper: yes◦

process.stop in the bounded action set (implemented: Linux 4/4, Windows 3/4, macOS 3/4; e2e-proven: Linux 3 (package.update spawned but did not complete), Windows 3 (process.stop, service.restart and quarantine.file); on macOS the refusal fences fired on a real Mac, a successful stop not yet exercised end to end)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Terminate process

File quarantine
Whisper: yes◦

quarantine.file in the bounded action set (e2e-proven on Linux and Windows; not yet exercised on macOS)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Quarantine / IOC block

Host network isolation (on-host / agent-enforced)
Whisper: partial◦

On-host bounded tier exists; primary isolation is done OFF-host via resolver default-deny + /128 revoke

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Network-contain / isolate host

OFF-HOST containment that holds even when the host OS is owned below the agent
Whisper: yes★◦

Revoke / kill-switch / DNS default-deny / auto-contain enforced from the network + identity plane, not by the on-host agent - holds when the host is fully compromised. Lead is over the EDR/XDR cohort this matrix compares: for an SSE platform off-host is the only place enforcement happens, so it would not be led here either

CrowdStrike: no◦

Containment is agent-enforced on the host (the control an attacker targets first)

DNS default-deny / resolver-plane containment
Whisper: yes★◦

Resolver default:deny cuts a compromised agent's resolution at the network plane

CrowdStrike: no◦

Not a resolver-plane control

/128 revocation / kill-switch on the wire
Whisper: yes★◦

Revoke the agent's /128 on the wire - identity + routability withdrawn independent of the host

CrowdStrike: no◦

No wire-level identity revocation

Remote shell / live response
Whisper: no◦

Deliberately NO shell - argv-only, absolute compile-time program paths, reset env (a safety invariant, not a gap)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Real Time Response (RTR) remote shell

Ransomware file rollback / restore
Whisper: no◦

No file rollback - prevention + off-host containment instead

CrowdStrike: partial◦

RTR remediation, no snapshot rollback

Bounded, safe-by-design response contract (no-shell, argv-only, own-scope, watchdog, ledger)
Whisper: yes★◦

Seven-invariant contract: no shell, own-/128-only + double-armed, relative-deadline watchdog + single executor, root-owned age-horizoned ledger, honest terminal, sticky disarm; macOS csops(2) code-sign fence

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Powerful RTR shell - flexible, not bounded-by-design

SOAR / automation
Whisper: yes◦

One Cypher verb control plane (register/identity/policy/logs/revoke/list), two-tier keyless/keyed

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Falcon Fusion SOAR (native, no-cost)

Managed Detection & Response (MDR) service
Whisper: no◦

No MDR service today (MSSP-beachhead GTM)

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

Falcon Complete Next-Gen MDR (Forrester Leader)

L6Coverage & Platformsthey leadWhisper 50% · CrowdStrike 81%
Windows sensor
Whisper: yes◦

LIVE - proven e2e on Windows Server 2022; 21/22 axes parity-or-better vs Linux (the one trail is response actions)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Broad Windows incl. legacy/embedded

macOS sensor
Whisper: partial◦

Collectors proven on Apple silicon; engines exercised in datapath tests; connection telemetry now LIVE via an entitlement-free conn producer (conn-layer parity today; of 13 deep axes 2 are fully live, 3 partial, and 8 dark until the entitlement lands, event-chain CONNECT LEG plus 3 conn-stream Sigma rules that fire on the entitlement-free conn telemetry; the event-chain composite cannot complete without the ES feed). The live ES deep feed remains Apple-entitlement-gated (flip-on-grant).

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Apple silicon + Intel, current releases

Linux sensor
Whisper: yes◦

LIVE flagship - 17,092 exec events / 0 drops across 37 techniques on Debian 12

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Broad distro matrix, eBPF

Mobile (iOS / Android)
Whisper: no◦

No mobile sensor in this product (Whisper Guard mobile is a separate line)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Falcon for Mobile (iOS/Android)

ChromeOS / agentless ingest
Whisper: no◦

Not covered

CrowdStrike: yes★◦

Falcon Insight for ChromeOS - agentless Google event ingest

Legacy enterprise UNIX (Solaris / AIX / HP-UX)
Whisper: no◦

Not covered

CrowdStrike: no◦

Not covered

Containers / K8s / cloud workloads
Whisper: partial◦

Linux sensor runs in containers; not a dedicated CWPP tier

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Falcon Cloud Security / CNAPP

Agent/AI-native: routable identity + governance per spawned AI agent
Whisper: yes★◦

Per-agent AND per-sub-agent routable /128 identity + governance - built for AI agents, not retrofitted

CrowdStrike: partial◦

'Secure AI' / Charlotte agentic direction (nascent, not routable identity)

L7Deployment & FootprintmoatWhisper 71% · CrowdStrike 50%
Cloud SaaS console
Whisper: partial◦

Self-hostable Cypher-only backend; not a multi-tenant SaaS console today

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Cloud-native multi-tenant SaaS

On-prem / self-hosted control plane
Whisper: yes◦

Self-hostable control backend (one /api/query), node-local, no external store on a hot path

CrowdStrike: no◦

Multi-tenant cloud only; no customer self-hosted control plane

Air-gapped deployment
Whisper: yes◦

Node-local stores; each node self-contained, no external dependency on a hot path

CrowdStrike: no◦

Not a standard offering

MSSP / multi-tenant management
Whisper: partial◦

Per-tenant model (dedicated DoH + /128 resolver per tenant); MSSP-beachhead GTM, young

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Falcon Flight Control

Zero-config / one-command onboarding
Whisper: yes★◦

Single binary, standard ports (:443/:53), addressed by hostname, zero-config ethos; two-tier keyless-first

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Agent-only, fast cloud rollout

Open-source / permissively-licensed sensor
Whisper: yes★◦

MIT-licensed Go sensor, GPL-free by default (eBPF/YARA-X are opt-in build tags)

CrowdStrike: no◦

Proprietary

Published / transparent pricing
Whisper: no◦

Not published in-repo (GTM = MSSP-beachhead + agent-fleet identity)

CrowdStrike: partial◦

Go/Pro/Enterprise list prices; Complete custom quote

L8Independent Validation & Standingthey leadWhisper 29% · CrowdStrike 86%
Gartner Magic Quadrant for EPP standing
Whisper: no◦

No analyst coverage yet (young product)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Leader, 5+ consecutive; highest Ability to Execute

Forrester Wave XDR standing
Whisper: no◦

No analyst coverage yet

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Leader (highest Vision/Innovation/Roadmap)

MITRE ATT&CK Evaluation entry
Whisper: no◦

NO MITRE Evaluation entry - our published result is a self-run Atomic Red Team measurement, framed as telemetry coverage, not a MITRE round

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Multiple rounds; 2025 100%/zero-FP (vendor framing of un-scored data)

SE Labs / AV-Comparatives / AV-TEST certification
Whisper: no◦

No independent-lab certification (young)

CrowdStrike: yes◦

SE Labs AAA (100%, 0 FP); AVC EPR certified

Production scale (deployed endpoints)
Whisper: partial◦

Small / early; cross-customer fleet-learning volume correspondingly early

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Hundreds of millions of endpoints

Corporate / financial stability
Whisper: partial◦

Young startup

CrowdStrike: yes◦

Public, large-cap

Published engineering / test rigor (mutation-tested deciders, CI durability gates)
Whisper: yes★◦

84.21% mutation score on the 5 deciders; four durability CI gates each proven to block a planted regression; 2065 Go + 127 Swift tests

CrowdStrike: n/a◦

Not publicly disclosed

The picture

One revoke, drawn where it actually runs.

Every incumbent's isolation is agent-enforced on the very host the attacker just took. This is the one picture in the grid no host-only vendor can draw: the host stays owned, and the containment holds anyway, because it never lived there.

Where they lead today

Three categories are theirs. The grid prices that in.

At equal weight, with the same scoring the violet categories get. Trust in the categories Whisper wins is earned by not shading the three it loses.

Independent validation & standing · Whisper 29% vs CrowdStrike 86%

No Gartner or Forrester placement, no MITRE Evaluation entry, no SE Labs or AV-Comparatives certification yet, and a young company's scale. Our published coverage figure is a self-run Atomic Red Team measurement and the matrix marks it as exactly that. The incumbents spent a decade earning this column; we are at the start of it. What we publish instead is engineering rigor a lab does not measure: mutation-tested deciders and CI durability gates, in the open.

Coverage breadth · Whisper 50% vs CrowdStrike 81%

Mobile, ChromeOS, legacy UNIX and dedicated container/CWPP tiers are places the incumbents are mature and we are young or absent. macOS has its exec, file and socket collectors proven on Apple silicon, with the engines exercised in datapath tests and the live Endpoint Security feed still entitlement-gated. The platform rows say all of this plainly, cell by cell, with the caveats in our own column.

We are early on breadth and validation, and the meters price that in. Everything in the violet categories is a structural property of being the DNS and the network. A host-only vendor can bolt on cloud pieces; it cannot bolt on being the network.

How we read the numbers

Disclosure is a feature, not fine print.

the MITRE caveat

Every “100%” in the validation rows is that vendor's own aggregation of MITRE Engenuity's un-scored raw per-substep data: MITRE assigns no scores, no rankings and no winner.◦ We cite those figures throughout as vendor framing, never as an independent verdict. Whisper has no MITRE entry at all; our coverage number is a self-run Atomic Red Team measurement, and the matrix never rounds it up to a MITRE claim.

The meters are computed, not curated. yes = 1, partial = 0.5, no and n/a = 0, averaged over each category's rows for whichever columns you selected; nothing is stored, so the scorecard recomputes for any comparison you build. A ★ marks the vendor that clearly leads a row: Whisper leads 23 of the 79, CrowdStrike 8, other vendors 8, and 40 rows have no clear leader.

Sourcing. A rival's capability is cited from the rival's own page, press release or RCA; a Whisper capability is cited to a runnable proof, the open sensor source, or a published engineering report. References (89).

verify it yourself · the whole grid, keyless

Do not take the grid on trust. Run it.

Every Whisper yes above is checkable with tools you already have. Verify a /128 keyless, walk the DNSSEC chain, or fetch the signed checkpoint and watch it move. The claims are not ours to assert; they are yours to verify on the public internet. No rival cell asks the same of you, which is rather the point.

$ dig -x {addr} +dnssec  ·  delv {host}  ·  openssl s_client -dane_tlsa_domain {host}
$ curl -s https://rdap.whisper.online/checkpoint
The litmus

Read the grid, then cut a compromised host from off the box.

Start keyless: enroll and verify a /128 with the tools you already have. Add the calm sensor with one command; bring your API key to unlock policy, egress governance and off-host containment. See pricing.

Verify a /128, keyless → no agent, no API key · dig, delv and openssl are enough
or install whisper (add WHISPER_SENSOR=1 and a key for the calm sensor)
$ curl -fsSL https://get.whisper.online | sh
Sources

References · 89

Every cell in the matrix resolves to one of these. Rival capabilities are cited from the rival's own pages, so the strongest version of their story is one click away; Whisper capabilities are cited to runnable proofs, the open sensor source, or published engineering reports.

  1. [ws-parity-win]Windows sensor proven e2e on Windows Server 2022 (341 spool records, T1486@1.0, T1105@0.9; 21/22 axes parity-or-better)Whisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  2. [ws-parity-mac]macOS engines proven on Apple-silicon Mac over the ES datapath (the exec, file and socket collectors are proven on real Apple hardware; the /dev/bpf qname tap needs root and is exercised through a scripted read seam rather than a live device; the engines are exercised in datapath tests rather than fired by a live Endpoint Security feed); ES feed entitlement-gated (AMFI -423), which darkens the memory path; exec now ships an entitlement-free producer and the file collector is proven on real Apple hardware; connection telemetry live via an entitlement-free libproc samplerWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  3. [ws-epic]Identity-first EDR thesis; brain off-host; shipped (v0.206.0, ~17MB under 1169 exec events); cgroup SLA; DANE-/128 pre-auth; kill-switchWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  4. [ws-atomic]Live Atomic Red Team self-eval: 37/37 telemetry (100%), 32/37 signature (86%), 17,092 exec events / 0 drops (self-run, not a MITRE round)Whisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  5. [ws-collectors]Cross-platform collectors + five event kinds (exec/file/conn/qname/detection) + the technique mapper T-ID vocabulary (~34)Whisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  6. [ws-sigma]Pure-Go sigma-go over 79 bundled rules (34 upstream SigmaHQ verbatim under DRL 1.1, 45 first-party under MIT) (17 Linux / 21 Windows / 59 macOS by platform admission), per-GOOS admission, operator rule dir, no GPL packsWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  7. [ws-knowngood]Local O(1) zero-network known-good hash allowlist seeded from fleet dpkg hashes (3075 loaded live)Whisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  8. [ws-yara-ja]YARA-X (CGO, opt-in tag) + JA3/JA4 engine, both built-dark (scanner/capture-tap off by default)Whisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  9. [ws-attackmatrix]712-technique / 1,916-ACTOR internet-graph taxonomy across the 14 Enterprise tactics; the four infrastructure columns (Recon TA0043, Resource-Dev TA0042, C2 TA0011, Exfil TA0010) served graph-firstWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  10. [ws-tests]2065 Go + 127 Swift tests; 84.21% mutation score on 5 deciders; four durability CI gates each proven to block a planted regressionWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  11. [ws-graph]7.53B-node / 40.3B-edge graph of the internet's naming + routing (HOSTNAME/IPv4-6/EMAIL/ORG/ASN/certs/RDAP/passive-DNS); graph-first assessment over the internet graphwhisper.online graph figures public figure2026-08
  12. [ws-platform]Graph-first policy resolver (serves DNS) + authoritative/RDAP; per-/128 from 2a04:2a01::/32 (AS219419); one-Cypher-verb control plane; per-tenant DoH + /128 resolverWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  13. [ws-identity]Routable /128 per agent AND sub-agent, reverse-DNS->identity, FCrDNS + DANE TLSA 3 1 1, DNSSEC-signed, 7 keyless proofs; DANE-pinned mTLS pre-authWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08$ dig -x <your /128> +dnssec ; openssl s_client -dane_tlsa_domain {host}
  14. [ws-egress]Per-/128 egress (WireGuard Tier-1 routed; SOCKS5/HTTP Tier-1.5 source-bound via AnyIP + IP_FREEBIND over 2a04:2a01::/32); per-agent firewall + byte-metering over CypherWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08$ dig -x <egress /128> +dnssec
  15. [ws-respond]Bounded on-host tier: closed action set (process.stop/quarantine.file/service.restart/package.update) under a seven-invariant safety contract (no-shell argv-only, own-/128 double-armed, deadline+watchdog, root-owned ledger, sticky disarm); off-host revoke/kill-switch/DNS default-denyWhisper platform · live e2e proof, reproducible on the public control + resolution surface2026-08
  16. [mitre-noscore]MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK Evaluations assign NO scores, rankings, or 'winner'; every vendor's '100%' is its own aggregation of the raw per-substep dataevals.mitre.org their words2026
  17. [cs-mitre25]CrowdStrike-reported 100% detection/protection, zero FP in 2025 MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise eval (vendor framing of un-scored MITRE data)crowdstrike.com their words2025-12-10
  18. [cs-gartner]Leader, 2024 Gartner MQ for EPP (5th consecutive); highest Ability to Execute, furthest Completeness of Visionbusinesswire.com their words2024-09-25
  19. [cs-forrester]Leader, Forrester Wave XDR Platforms Q2 2024 (highest scores Vision/Innovation/Roadmap); continued Leader Q2 2026ir.crowdstrike.com their words2024-06
  20. [cs-outage]Channel File 291 RCA: kernel-mode Windows sensor logic error BSOD'd ~8.5M hosts Jul 19 2024 (evidence a host-resident kernel-coupled agent is itself an availability/attack surface)crowdstrike.com their words2024-08
  21. [cs-threatgraph]Threat Graph: cross-customer graph of SECURITY TELEMETRY; 40+ PB stored, trillions events/day, ~70M req/sec (not an internet naming/routing graph)crowdstrike.com their words2024
  22. [cs-intel]Counter Adversary Operations: 250+ named adversaries, 2,300+ intel reports/yr, ATT&CK-mapped profiles (finished intel/reporting, not a live resolution control point)crowdstrike.com their words2026
  23. [cs-itdr]Falcon Identity Threat Protection / ITDR: AD/Entra/Okta directory identity, real-time credential-abuse detection, automated containment (MFA/password reset)crowdstrike.com their words2026
  24. [cs-firewall]Falcon Firewall Management: central HOST-firewall policy across Win/macOS/Linux via the agentcrowdstrike.com their words2026
  25. [cs-contain]Falcon Complete MDR + network containment/isolation, process kill, IOC block, RTR remote shell, USB device control; host-agent-enforced containmentcrowdstrike.com their words2026
  26. [cs-ngsiem]Falcon NG-SIEM/LogScale (Humio): CQL query language, ~7-day default retention extendable to 36 months (paid)crowdstrike.com their words2026
  27. [cs-pricing]Falcon Go $7.99 / Pro $14.99 / Enterprise $19.99 per device/mo list; Complete MDR custom quote; module add-ons raise TCOzerometric.net their words2026
  28. [cs-os]OS matrix Win/macOS/Linux + Falcon for Mobile (iOS/Android) + Falcon Insight for ChromeOS (agentless, Google event ingest, ChromeOS 113+)crowdstrike.com their words2026
  29. [cs-arch]Sensor arch: Windows kernel driver, Linux user-space eBPF, macOS Endpoint Security frameworkthenewstack.io their words2024
  30. [cs-selabs]SE Labs 2025 EPS: 100% Total Accuracy, zero false positives; AV-Comparatives EPR 2024/2025 certifiedselabs.uk their words2025
  31. [ms-mitre24]MS-reported 100% technique-level detection + zero FP, 2024 MITRE Enterprise (first round with macOS; eBPF Linux sensor) - vendor framing of un-scored datamicrosoft.com their words2024-12-11
  32. [ms-gartner]Leader, Gartner MQ EPP - seventh consecutive year (through 2026)microsoft.com their words2026-05-29
  33. [ms-forrester]Overall Leader, Forrester Wave XDR Platforms Q2 2024; highest Current Offering/Strategy/Market Presence; 15/22 criteria at highestmicrosoft.com their words2024-06-03
  34. [ms-linux]Defender for Endpoint on Linux: eBPF now default event provider (no kernel module); positioned for SERVER workloads, not desktop paritylearn.microsoft.com their words2026-05
  35. [ms-intel]Microsoft Threat Intelligence: 100T+ signals/day (2025), 1,500+ threat groups incl. 600+ nation-statemicrosoft.com their words2025
  36. [ms-hunt]Advanced Hunting with KQL; 30-day default raw retention; longer needs Microsoft Sentinel (extra product + cost)learn.microsoft.com their words2026
  37. [ms-netprot]Network Protection / Web Content Filtering: HOST-enforced block of malicious URLs/domains/IPs by MS reputation; contain via neighboring onboarded Windows devices; host-enforced isolationlearn.microsoft.com their words2026
  38. [ms-mdi]Defender for Identity (SEPARATE product, E5/add-on): sensors on DC/AD FS/AD CS/Entra Connect; behavioral AD/Entra attack detection, not wire identitylearn.microsoft.com their words2026
  39. [ms-air]Automated Investigation & Remediation + attack disruption (block lateral movement + remote encryption); no native ransomware file-rollbackmicrosoft.com their words2023
  40. [ms-pricing]Plan 1 ~$3/user/mo (prevention), Plan 2 ~$5.20 (EDR/AIR/hunting); best value gated behind M365 E5; Defender for Business 300-seat capagileit.com their words2026
  41. [ms-discovery]Device discovery driven by onboarded WINDOWS devices; NOT supported from macOS/Linux sensors; multi-tenant via M365 Lighthouse (historically weak)learn.microsoft.com their words2026
  42. [s1-mitre]S1-reported 100% detection (16/16 steps, 80/80 sub-steps), zero delays, 88% fewer alerts than median - 2024 MITRE Enterprise (vendor framing)sentinelone.com their words2024-12
  43. [s1-gartner]Leader, Gartner MQ EPP - 6th consecutive year (2026 MQ)sentinelone.com their words2026-05-26
  44. [s1-forrester]Strong Performer (NOT Leader), Forrester Wave XDR Q2 2024 (Leaders were MS/PAN/CRWD)sdxcentral.com their words2024-06
  45. [s1-linux]Single agent Win/macOS/Linux/K8s; Linux eBPF no-kernel-module, macOS kextless; on-device behavioral AI => offline protectionsentinelone.com their words2026
  46. [s1-datalake]Singularity Data Lake: up to 24-month retention, 365 days EDR data OOB (tier/SKU dependent); Deep Visibility + Power Query huntingsentinelone.com their words2026
  47. [s1-identity]Singularity Identity + Ranger AD (ITDR): real-time AD/Entra attack detection + Hologram deception (directory identity)sentinelone.com their words2026
  48. [s1-netdisco]Ranger / Network Discovery: passive/active fingerprinting of IP devices on the LOCAL network (customer's own networks, not the internet)assets.sentinelone.com their words2026
  49. [s1-firewall]Firewall Control: manages the native OS HOST firewall (location-aware); not a network/DNS servicesentinelone.com their words2026
  50. [s1-rollback]Signature ransomware rollback via VSS snapshots (default 4-hour cadence) - WINDOWS-onlysentinelone.com their words2026
  51. [s1-contain]Storyline correlation; kill/quarantine/remediate/rollback/isolate; Network Quarantine (on-host enforced); RemoteOps remote shell + Forensicscynet.com their words2026
  52. [s1-tamper]Anti-tamper: no uninstall without out-of-band approvalhowtoharden.com their words2026
  53. [s1-onprem]Cloud SaaS + on-prem/self-managed and air-gapped consoles for regulated/isolated environments; strong MSP/MSSP motionsentinelone.com their words2026
  54. [s1-resource]Recurring independent reviews: agent can be resource-heavy on low-spec/loaded hosts (esp. during scans); FP-sensitivity historically; steep learning curvegartner.com their words2026
  55. [cx-mitre]PAN-reported 100% technique-level detection (no config changes, no delays) + 8/10 protection steps blocked with 0 FP - 2024 MITRE ER6 (vendor framing)paloaltonetworks.com their words2024-12
  56. [cx-gartner]Leader, Gartner MQ EPP - 4 consecutive years (2023-2026)paloaltonetworks.com their words2026-05-29
  57. [cx-forrester]Leader, Forrester Wave XDR Platforms Q2 2024paloaltonetworks.com their words2024-06-03
  58. [cx-avc]AV-Comparatives EPR 2025: 99% prevention + 99% response; Strategic Leader multiple yearspaloaltonetworks.com their words2025
  59. [cx-datalake]Cortex Data Lake stitches endpoint+network+cloud+identity; XQL hunting; retention '30-day to unlimited' with 30-day floor, longer sold as capacitycdn.blueally.com their words2026
  60. [cx-itdr]ITDR add-on: directory identity analytics (insider/lateral-movement/credential compromise, AD/Azure AD) - not identity-on-the-wirecortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com their words2026
  61. [cx-nta]Network Traffic Analysis via Palo Alto NGFW-as-sensor + Cortex broker/Pathfinder feeding analytics (e.g. tunneled-DNS); depends on PAN network stackboll.ch their words2026
  62. [cx-dns]Can 'restrict network activity / update bad-domain lists' but ONLY through Palo Alto enforcement points (NGFW / DNS Security service) - not a resolver Cortex operatescdn.blueally.com their words2026
  63. [cx-hostfw]Host Firewall module (inbound/outbound rules pushed to agent) + Disk Encryption mgmt + USB Device Controldocs-cortex.paloaltonetworks.com their words2026
  64. [cx-isolate]Endpoint isolation (halts all host traffic except to Cortex), process kill, file quarantine, Live Terminal remote shell - agent-enforced on hostcortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com their words2026
  65. [cx-linux]Full Linux EDR/ELF analysis needs a kernel module (or user-space mode on kernel 5.0+); unsupported kernels drop to asynchronous mode; narrowest module setcortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com their words2026
  66. [cx-xql]XQL (Cortex Query Language) over xdr_data; XSOAR for automated playbookscortex-docs.paloaltonetworks.com their words2026
  67. [cx-pricing]Tiered (Prevent/Pro) per-endpoint + Cortex Data Lake ingestion billed separately (~$11k/TB/yr est.) + module add-ons; quote-based, complexunderdefense.com their words2026
  68. [tm-mitre]Trend-reported 100% analytic coverage of major steps, 100% sub-steps macOS/Linux/server, 99% overall - 2024 MITRE ER6; notes HIGHER alert volume (vendor framing)newsroom.trendmicro.com their words2024-12-11
  69. [tm-gartner]Leader, Gartner MQ EPP - 20th consecutive time (longest Leader streak of any EPP vendor); highest in 3 Critical Capabilities use casesnewsroom.trendmicro.com their words2025-07-17
  70. [tm-forrester-nav]Leader, Forrester Wave Network Analysis & Visibility (highest current-offering score of 12); also XDR Wave Leadermalaymail.com their words2025-10-22
  71. [tm-ndr]Real NDR tier: XDR for Networks via Deep Discovery Inspector / standalone virtual sensors / TippingPoint IPS; inline blocking + lateral-movement + unmanaged/IoT/IIoT visibilitytrendmicro.com their words2026
  72. [tm-spn]Smart Protection Network: 250M+ sensors, 5T+ threat queries/yr, 15 research centers; product-telemetry reputation feed, NOT an owned internet naming/routing graphtrendmicro.com their words2022
  73. [tm-os]Broad OS: Win/macOS/Linux + legacy enterprise UNIX (Solaris/AIX/HP-UX) for server/workload (Deep Security lineage); containers/VMs/OpenShiftsuccess.trendmicro.com their words2026
  74. [tm-retention]XDR Data Explorer/OAT default 30 days, extendable to 90/180/365 with a data-retention license; Workbench alerts 180 daysdocs.trendmicro.com their words2026
  75. [tm-isolate]Endpoint isolation (by IP/hostname) + inline NDR/IPS blocking; host-driven or perimeter-sensor-driven containmentdocs.trendmicro.com their words2026
  76. [tm-airgap]SaaS + Sovereign/Private Cloud / on-premises incl. air-gapped/offline; fullest capability set is cloud-hostedtrendmicro.com their words2026
  77. [tm-mssp]Vision One for Service Providers: multi-tenant single pane, competitive MSSP pricingmsspalert.com their words2026
  78. [tm-identity]Identity telemetry + ASRM (identity posture / account risk), part of zero-trust story - not a routable per-agent wire identityhelpnetsecurity.com their words2024-04-22
  79. [tm-vp]On-agent engines: ML/AI, behavior monitoring, host IPS with virtual patching (ZDI-fed vulnerability shielding), DLP, app control, device control, C&C callback blocking, web reputationinvgate.com their words2026
  80. [tm-installer]Reviewer-cited limitations: performance impact, ~600MB installer hard to push to bandwidth-constrained sites, agent-removal difficulty, FPs/alert volume, credit-model confusiongartner.com their words2026
  81. [tm-remote]Remote Shell Session (CLI, 2h cap/10min idle) + Run Remote Custom Script; ransomware rollback (Apex One lineage)docs.trendmicro.com their words2026
  82. [so-gartner]Sophos: Leader, Gartner MQ EPP 15th consecutive; Peer Insights Customers' Choice 4.8/5sophos.com their words2024-09-23
  83. [so-mitre]Sophos: 100% detection across 16 steps/90 sub-steps, 86/90 full Technique - 2025 MITRE round 7 (vendor framing)sophos.com their words2025
  84. [so-rollback]Sophos CryptoGuard automatic ransomware file rollback; Adaptive Attack Protection; cloud-only Central (no air-gapped mgmt)sophos.com their words2026
  85. [bd-mitre]Bitdefender: 91% analytic coverage, 6 FP; 100%/0-FP Linux+macOS; ~3 alerts/incident vs 209 median - 2024 MITRE ER6bitdefender.com their words2024-12
  86. [bd-gartner]Bitdefender: VISIONARY (not Leader), 2024 Gartner MQ EPP; Strong Performer Forrester XDR Q2 2024bitdefender.com their words2024-09-24
  87. [cy-datasheet]Cybereason Defense Platform: MalOp correlation; Network/Identity modules are THIRD-PARTY integrations (firewall/NDR + IAM); on-host isolation; Cloud/Hybrid/On-Prem/Air-Gappedcybereason.com their words2026
  88. [cy-instability]Cybereason 2024-2025 instability: layoffs, CEO resignation + lawsuit, terminated Trustwave merger, $120M rescue investmentcalcalistech.com their words2025
  89. [cy-gartner-drop]Cybereason: 2022 EPP MQ Leader, not a Leader in 2024, DROPPED from the quadrant entirely in the subsequent reportitchanneloxygen.com their words2026