Exploring the Global Impact of CrowdStrike’s Faulty Software Update
CrowdStrike will be under scrutiny as a senior executive testifies before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee about the company’s disastrous software update in July, which caused a worldwide IT outage.
Adam Meyers, senior vice president of counter adversary operations at CrowdStrike, will address lawmakers to explain the cause of the disruption and detail the actions being taken to prevent future occurrences. His testimony could influence future cyber legislation.
The faulty software update deployed to Windows machines by the Texas-based company resulted in widespread IT system failures, disrupting operations for airlines, airports, banks, healthcare providers, retailers, and other businesses on a global scale.
The incident has been labeled as one of the worst blunders in the IT sector’s history. CrowdStrike even received the “Most Epic Fail” award at the recent Pwnie Awards, which company president Michael Sentonas accepted in person.
Following the outage, CrowdStrike’s founder and CEO, George Kurtz, publicly apologized, stating that the issue was quickly identified and resolved. He clarified that it was not a cyberattack but a defect in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts, with Mac and Linux hosts remaining unaffected.
Kurtz assured transparency in addressing the cause of the incident and pledged to prevent similar events in the future. Meyers’ testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee aims to provide further insight into the matter, with tough questioning expected during the session.
How to watch
The hearing will commence at 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 24, and may continue until 5 p.m. ET. Viewers can watch the proceedings through the embedded video player on this page.
