image source: Mashable
July 2024, aka the month when “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” became a collective cry for help, due to the CrowdStrike Outage that occurred on July 19, 2024. CrowdStrike, as they describe themselves; “is a global cybersecurity leader with an advanced cloud-native platform for protecting endpoints, cloud workloads, identities and data.”; released a driver update that caused more emotional (and monetary) damage reading through your ex’s text messages.
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What Happened? 🤔
CrowdStrike’s drivers, which operate at the kernel level, were to blame. Kernel-level drivers have direct access to the system hardware, making any issues with them potentially catastrophic. When the faulty update rolled out it brought down an estimated ~8.5 million Windows computers as a result.
The Fallout
The financial impact was massive. For the top 500 US companies alone, the estimated losses were around $5.4 billion. While some of these losses were covered by insurance, the incident still dealt a heavy blow to many organizations. The event underscored the risks involved with kernel-level operations and highlighted the importance of thorough testing (although real men test in production) and robust update mechanisms.
Why It Matters
This incident is a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities inherent in our increasingly digital world. It’s not just about a single company facing a setback; it’s about the broader implications for cybersecurity and the ripple effects on the global economy. Businesses rely heavily on these cybersecurity solutions, and when they fail, the consequences can be severe.
Moving Forward
In the wake of the outage, there will likely be a push for more rigid testing protocols and perhaps a re-evaluation of how updates are deployed. Perhaps using staged rollout or phased deployment strategies. It’s also a moment for other cybersecurity firms to re-assess their strategies and ensure they have robust safeguards in place to prevent similar incidents. In the meantime for those affected; make the most of those $10 Uber Eats gift cards.
image source: DigiAlps