U.S. cybersecurity company CrowdStrike is under intense scrutiny after a global tech outage disrupted critical services worldwide. The company’s CEO, George Kurtz, has been summoned by U.S. House leaders to testify before Congress regarding CrowdStrike’s role in the incident.
The outage, which occurred last Friday, was triggered by a defective software update from CrowdStrike. The malfunction affected approximately 8.5 million computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Industries across the globe, including airlines, banks, and hospitals, experienced significant disruptions as systems crashed and services were halted.
Representatives Mark E. Green of Tennessee and Andrew Garbarino of New York, leading the House Homeland Security Committee, have requested that Kurtz provide detailed explanations of the incident. In a letter to the CEO, they emphasized the gravity of the situation, noting that some have claimed it to be “the largest IT outage in history.”
“While we appreciate CrowdStrike’s response and coordination with stakeholders, we cannot ignore the magnitude of this incident,” the letter stated. “Americans deserve to know in detail how this incident happened and the mitigation steps CrowdStrike is taking.”
CrowdStrike reported that a “significant number” of the affected computers are back in operation. However, the remediation process has been painstaking, often requiring IT teams to manually delete files on affected machines. The company has begun implementing new techniques to accelerate the recovery efforts.
The outage has not only impacted services but also led to financial repercussions for CrowdStrike. Since the incident, the company’s shares have dropped more than 20%, erasing billions of dollars in market value.
The scale of the disruptions has caught the attention of government regulators, including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). FTC Chair Lina Khan commented on the incident, highlighting concerns over the fragility of concentrated systems. “All too often these days, a single glitch results in a system-wide outage, affecting industries from healthcare and airlines to banks and auto-dealers,” Khan stated. “Millions of people and businesses pay the price. These incidents reveal how concentration can create fragile systems.”
As businesses and consumers grapple with the fallout, the incident raises questions about cybersecurity resilience and the risks associated with reliance on a single tech provider. The global nature of the outage underscores the interconnectedness of digital infrastructure and its vulnerability to widespread disruptions.
CrowdStrike has expressed willingness to cooperate with congressional inquiries and is actively communicating with relevant committees. The tech community and market analysts are closely watching how the company addresses the crisis and implements measures to prevent future occurrences.
The upcoming testimony of CEO George Kurtz before Congress is expected to shed light on the causes of the outage and outline the steps being taken to safeguard critical systems moving forward.
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CrowdStrike CEO called to testify to Congress over global tech outage
cgtn.com
