Hey everyone,
I wanted to talk about the recent global tech outage that’s been affecting retailers, airlines, media companies, and more. CrowdStrike, a company known for its cloud-based security solutions, has been implicated in this issue. Their software is widely used, including by major players like Amazon’s AWS.
Who Was Impacted?
The outage hit a wide range of systems using Microsoft Operating Systems—think retailers, banks, 911 emergency services, flights, hospital software—you name it, it was affected. How did they figure out they were impacted? Many started seeing that dreaded blue screen of death.
George Kurtz, the CEO of CrowdStrike, clarified that this wasn’t a security breach or cyberattack. Instead, it was a defect in a single content update for Windows hosts—Mac and Linux hosts were not affected. He mentioned that CrowdStrike Falcon was at the root of the problem. This cloud-based solution for virus, malware, and cyber threat protection runs on end-user devices like traditional antivirus software. Kurtz explained that they identified the issue quickly and rolled out a fix. Systems are coming back online as they are rebooted.
How Can We Do Better?
One key area to improve is strengthening redundancy. Having a backup for the backup in place can help prevent these kinds of widespread disruptions. Communication is key too! Who knew this was going out? What was the plan before hand for something like this is the question. This is huge! I think it will be ongoing. However, after an issue, any issue, big or small, a post incident-review should happen. After an outage, conducting a thorough review to understand what went wrong and why can provide valuable insights. Implementing lessons learned from these reviews can help prevent similar issues in the future.
The Bigger Lesson
The bigger takeaway? George Kurtz had to address this global mishap with calm and confidence, showing how to handle these situations under pressure. As an entrepreneur, you’re bound to face similar challenges. You know what? This does not only go for entrepreneurs, this goes for anyone in all aspects of life. It’s not just about the mistake; it’s about how you manage it and what changes you make to avoid future issues. Let’s hope CrowdStrike is putting measures in place to prevent this from happening again. What are your thoughts on this?