CrowdStrike, NSS Labs settle legal disputes over product testing

CrowdStrike and NSS Labs have officially ended their two-year legal battle with a confidential settlement agreement.

CrowdStrike, an endpoint protection vendor based in Sunnyvale, Calif., issued a statement to SearchSecurity Friday saying, "CrowdStrike and NSS Labs have resolved the lawsuits between them pursuant to a confidential settlement agreement."

The CrowdStrike-NSS Labs legal battle began in February 2017 when the vendor filed a lawsuit against the Austin, Texas, security testing firm regarding negative test results in an endpoint protection product report; NSS Labs had issued a "caution" rating for CrowdStrike's Falcon platform in the report. CrowdStrike took issue with the negative test results of the product, claiming the testing was faulty and incomplete, and sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent NSS Labs from releasing the report. A U.S. District Court judge denied CrowdStrike's request, and NSS Labs published its endpoint protection report during RSA Conference 2017.

In September, NSS Labs filed an antitrust suit against CrowdStrike as well as Symantec, ESET and the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), a non-profit organization founded in 2008 to "improve the business conditions related to the development, use, testing and rating of antimalware products and solutions."

The antitrust suit alleged the three vendors and the AMTSO conspired to prevent NSS Labs from testing their products. CrowdStrike, Symantec and the AMTSO denied the allegations through public statements.

As part of the CrowdStrike-NSS Labs settlement, the testing firm issued a "corrective statement" and an apology regarding the 2017 Falcon platform test results.

"NSS's testing of the CrowdStrike Falcon platform was incomplete and the product was not properly configured with prevention capabilities enabled," the statement said. "NSS extends its sincere apology to CrowdStrike for the publication of inaccurate test results of CrowdStrike's Falcon platform."

The settlement includes CrowdStrike's role in the antitrust suit, but NSS Labs said it's continuing to pursue legal action against the other parties named in the suit.

"CrowdStrike and NSS Labs have resolved the lawsuits between them pursuant to a confidential settlement agreement," NSS Labs said in a statement to SearchSecurity. "The antitrust suit against Symantec, ESET and the AMTSO remains ongoing."