CrowdStrike Outage: A Warning Signal for Future Operational Resilience

Today, every sector across the globe heavily relies on cybersecurity. That is why the recent outage of the global Cybersecurity leader, CrowdStrike, sent shockwaves across the planet. The outage unmasked the true fragility of the technological operation and exposed the future risks of similar situations. 

The Outage:

Occurring in the early hours of July 19, 2024, the global outage had a massive impact on the functioning of vital organs, like governments,  businesses, financial services, industries and other sectors. It was triggered by the software update of a US-based cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike. As a result, PCs running on Microsoft Windows crashed and were unable to reboot. All the users of Crowdstrike solutions were severely affected by this update. 

Source:https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/asia/news/reinsurance/crowdstrike-incident-unlikely-to-materially-impact-reinsurers--fitch-ratings-498305.aspx 

Who were Affected by the Outage?

• User PCs: Although Microsoft claims that only 1% of devices (8.5 million devices) were  affected by the faulty CrowdStrike update, the systems affected were still in a critical stage. 
• Global Transport Systems: The outage disrupted International Ports and Airports. It is estimated that 10000 flights were grounded or delayed around the globe. It took weeks to resolve the consequences of the outage, severely impacting the public transportation between the cities. 
• Healthcare: The Healthcare industry was also affected. The outage sabotaged doctor appointments, treatments, and surgery schedules. It had even impacted the emergency responses of some hospitals. 
• Finance: Financial organisations were also profoundly affected, with significant issues in payment gateway platforms. 
• Media: The outage has also heavily influenced several media broadcasting stations. It is estimated that the outage may cost US Fortune 500 companies $5.4 billion.

Source:https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2833671/crowdstrike-shares-tumble-13-on-it-outage-impact 

Dependence on Technology

The last few decades witnessed the streamlining of operations and minimization of inefficiencies in various sectors – acceleration of production, improved efficiency and optimized material management. There’s no doubt – Technology has revolutionised communication. However, this overdependence on technology has also exposed industries to outage, hacking and similar dangers. It is evident that our reliance on technology can be a double edged sword – while it can improve functioning, it is still susceptible to danger, as we have seen in the CrowdStrike incident.

Preparing for Potential Challenges

The message from the Crowdstrike Outage was loud and clear: The organisation must prepare for all kinds of disruptions. Usage of parallel or different cybersecurity could be the solution to avoid similar contingencies. It is important to strengthen the response team within the organisation. Regular security audits and mock drills can be conducted to assess the company’s readiness to tackle similar outages.

In conclusion, the recent outage by Crowdstrike serves as a much-needed reminder of the vulnerabilities of a digital world. The incident highlights poor planning for the future, and the need for readiness for future challenges. This is key to staying in, and protecting, business. 

Sources: 

https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Explaining-the-largest-IT-outage-in-history-and-whats-next 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2024/07/25/crowdstrike-outage-creates-ripple-across-global-supply-chain/ 

https://www.informationweek.com/cyber-resilience/crowdstrike-outage-drained-5-4-billion-from-fortune-500-report#close-modal 

https://www.gartner.com/en/information-technology/topics/minimize-disruptions-crowdstrike-outage