Navigating Global IT Challenges: Perspectives From the Front-lines
The severity of update in Crowdstrike is a warning of the future challenges that may happen in the tech companies.
Today, technology is inevitable when it comes to industries such as airlines, hospitals, and banks. They all play important roles in every sector. Before boarding, passengers have to check in and go through immigration as well as check the schedule on screen in order not to be late. In the healthcare sector, patients have their records recorded electronically in hospitals for easy work, such as streamlining check-ins and digital prescriptions and billing. Electronic records also allow nurses to access patients' history easily from anywhere.
However, just a few days ago, there was a major IT glitch in all over the world. Most industries, such as hospitals, broadcasters, airlines, and even emergency call centers, were severely affected. Numerous patients were unable to consult doctors; some had to cancel surgeries just because of the so-called BSOD(Blue Screen of Death); Most airports, including Heathrow Airport, Sydney Airport, and Hong Kong International Airport, had to delay and even cancel flights. Some passengers were also unable to process check-in just because of BSOD; supermarkets had the same issue and customers were unable to process their payments.
What exactly is Blue Screen of Death? Blue Screen of Death or BSoD is a fatal error displayed by Microsoft Windows. It usually happens when there’s a serious system crash that causes Windows to shut down or restart unexpectedly. It depends on how serious the problem is, it can be an easy fix or even a complex one.
What caused the outage? According to CBS News, it wasn’t any kind of cyberattack or security incident. It was a technical problem caused by a an apparent faulty Microsoft update in a cybersecurity firm called Crowdstrike. Updating a system is not always error-free. Perhaps Crowdstrike did not pass the quality test which means that they didn’t do it in the correct way, according to Sven Herpig, Lead for Cybersecurity Policy and Resilience at Interface who specializes in information technology.
How does Crowdstrike relate to Microsoft? Because Crowdstrike is responsible for Microsoft’s security and real-time cyberattack monitoring apps and services, the two companies have an intertwined relationship. The integration provides Crowdstrike a real-time monitoring and protection against cyber threats targeting Microsoft.
Unfortunately, there was a bug that shut down Microsoft across the globe. It was an unprecedented incident that caused a devastating disruption when the update was rolled out. Until yesterday, on Saturday, only a small part of the systems were able to bring them back online. Others may take days or even weeks to recover.
For Crowdstrike, they may have to file a lawsuit just because of the malfunction IT outage. Most businesses, healthcare services, and even the government are most likely to seek compensation for the operational losses and potential harm to patients caused by the forced cancellation of surgeries and other critical services. The provider will have to take responsibility for their own action that caused the severity of the world.
After this incident, the reputation of Crowdstrike could become worse. There may be a trust issue between clients and the company where clients may start to lose faith in their capabilities, leading to the downfall of the business and further consequences for the company. In terms of finance, the market share and revenue of Crowdstrike may decrease. Clients may have to seek out an alternative cybersecurity company to replace Crowdstrike in which they feel they can be easily trusted.
Ultimately, the fallout from this incident could become difficult for Crowdstrike to recover from. Rebuilding brand images and regaining clients' trust may take years. The leadership may be pressurize to make changes or restore confidence in order to gain back the trust.
To conclude, the incident is a significant moment that can alter Crowdstrike’s future as a business.
Global IT outage: How one software update could go so wrong(DW News): https://youtu.be/abtuNgPuNSYsi=AYYdNuYsbnvPxPjK
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