97% of Crashed Systems Restored, Says CrowdStrike CEO
A week after a faulty update caused a global IT outage that grounded flights and knocked TV stations off the air, the CEO of CrowdStrike has announced that nearly all systems are back online. In a LinkedIn post, George Kurtz stated that “over 97%” of systems running its software were operational as of July 25.
Previously, Microsoft estimated that 8.5 million machines had been disabled by the bug in CrowdStrike’s software. Based on Mr. Kurtz’s estimate, this suggests that approximately 250,000 devices remain offline.
The CrowdStrike chief executive expressed gratitude for the “tireless efforts” of customers and staff and issued another apology for the incident. “While I can’t promise perfection, I can promise a response that is focused, effective, and with a sense of urgency,” he wrote. However, he acknowledged that the company’s work to fix all devices “is not yet complete” and affirmed the firm’s commitment to restoring every impacted system.
The BBC has asked CrowdStrike for more details about the systems that remain offline and the reasons for the delays in their restoration.
Restoring systems has proven to be a time-consuming process. Last Friday, solutions were shared online by both CrowdStrike and Microsoft within 24 hours of the problem being reported. However, the remedies, which included restarting machines in safe mode and deleting the faulty file, required physical access to devices, which was challenging in some cases.
Microsoft has since released a tool to expedite the process, and Mr. Kurtz mentioned that the development of automated recovery tools has “enhanced” recovery efforts. CrowdStrike has also provided more details about how the issue arose in a Preliminary Incident Review and has committed to several measures to prevent a recurrence.
Despite these efforts, CrowdStrike’s attempts to make amends have faced criticism. The company faced backlash after giving staff and firms a $10 UberEats voucher as an apology for the disruption. “To express our gratitude, your next cup of coffee or late-night snack is on us!” CrowdStrike wrote, directing people to use a code to access the $10 credit. However, some felt the gesture was inadequate, with one Reddit user writing, “I literally wanted to drive my car off a bridge this weekend and they bought me coffee. Nice.”
According to insurance firm Parametrix, the top 500 US companies by revenue, excluding Microsoft, suffered $5.4 billion (£4.1 billion) in financial losses from the outage.
