CrowdStrike has promised to improve its software testing procedures after a global IT outage.
The incident on Friday, July 19, was caused by a faulty content update for Windows systems.
It resulted in millions of PCs displaying “blue screens of death,” affecting banks, hospitals, and airlines.
In a detailed review released Wednesday, July 24, CrowdStrike acknowledged a “bug” in a system intended to ensure the proper functioning of software updates.
The cybersecurity firm admitted that the glitch allowed problematic content data in a file to go undetected.
To prevent future occurrences, CrowdStrike pledged to implement more rigorous software testing and checks, including increased scrutiny from developers.
“What’s clear from the post mortem is they didn’t seem to have the right guardrails in place to prevent this type of incident or to reduce the risk of it occurring”
The faulty update led to the crash of 8.5 million Microsoft Windows computers worldwide.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized for the impact of the outage.
Despite this, cybersecurity experts criticized the company for significant lapses.
Daniel Card, a cybersecurity consultant, told the BBC : “What’s clear from the post mortem is they didn’t seem to have the right guardrails in place to prevent this type of incident or to reduce the risk of it occurring.”
Sam Kirkman of cybersecurity firm NetSPI acknowledged CrowdStrike had taken steps to prevent outages, which likely helped avert similar incidents in the past.
The company faced backlash for offering $10 Uber Eats vouchers to employees and partners who managed the crisis.
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Some saw it as inadequate compensation for their efforts.
The financial impact of the outage has been significant.
Insurance firm Parametrix estimated that the top 500 US companies, excluding Microsoft, incurred losses of approximately $5.4 billion, with only a fraction covered by insurance.
The US government has investigated Delta Airlines’ response to the outage, as the airline continued to cancel flights.
Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian assured customers that the worst impacts were over, with full recovery expected soon.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has been summoned to testify before Congress.
