(NewsSpace.com) – On Friday, July 19, US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike rolled out an update to Microsoft systems. There was one problem: It was defective.
That mistake cost the entire industry time and money. It also stranded travelers, caused computers worldwide to display the blue screen of death, and rendered hospitals and medical facilities unable to access patient information. The global outage raised many concerns about how reliant we are on technology and the dangers of being so.
The Outage
According to a letter from CrowdStrike, the outage was due to “a defect found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts.” It did not impact other operating systems, like Linux and Mac. The cybersecurity firm made it clear that this was not an attack or any malicious occurrence. It also notified customers that it would be transparent about the steps it’s taking to fix the defect and to ensure nothing like this happens again.
Many industries, including banks, airlines, and hospitals, were significantly impacted by the outage. Airlines canceled thousands of flights, stranding even more travelers on one of the busiest weekends of the summer. Hospitals and medical facilities had to cancel or delay non-emergency services and procedures, cancel appointments, and delay surgeries. Some banks couldn’t process transactions or access data, which made it difficult for people to withdraw or deposit money.
Reliance on Digital Technology
Over the past few decades, people around the world have become increasingly dependent on technology. Most tasks are done on a computer, tablet, or phone, and we rely on these devices to keep us connected, not only personally, but in a business sense, too. This outage is a great example of what happens when one incident can steamroll into an extremely dire situation. All it takes is one small piece of the puzzle to fall apart, and people are left in the dark.
Delta, for example, was still recovering from the outage days later. One of its tracking tools was impacted by the software defect and when the system came back online, it couldn’t catch up efficiently. That resulted in more than 3,500 flights being delayed or outright canceled. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with the company and reminded Delta that it was responsible for ensuring its customers were taken care of in terms of refunds and reimbursements for food or hotel stays.
Congress has already taken up discussions on whether there need to be more regulations to help prevent such an occurrence—or worse—from happening in the future.
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