A week following a faulty update that caused a significant global IT outage, grounding flights and knocking TV stations off the air, CrowdStrike’s CEO has reported that nearly all affected systems are back online.
In a LinkedIn post, George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, stated that “over 97%” of systems running their software were operational again as of July 25. Previously, Microsoft estimated that 8.5 million machines were impacted by the bug in CrowdStrike’s software, which implies approximately 250,000 devices remain offline.
Kurtz expressed his gratitude for the “tireless efforts” of customers and staff while apologizing once more 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. He acknowledged that the work to restore all devices is ongoing and reaffirmed the company’s commitment to bringing every impacted system back online.
The BBC has requested more details from CrowdStrike regarding the systems still offline and the reasons for the delay in their restoration. The process of bringing systems back online has been time-consuming. Last Friday, solutions were shared online by both CrowdStrike and Microsoft within 24 hours of the problem being reported. However, these remedies required physical access to the devices, which was challenging in some cases.
Microsoft has since released a tool to expedite the process, and Kurtz mentioned that the development of automated recovery tools has “enhanced” the recovery efforts. CrowdStrike has also provided more details about the issue in a Preliminary Incident Review and has committed to measures to prevent a recurrence. Despite these efforts, the company has faced criticism for its handling of the situation.
CrowdStrike received backlash after offering a $10 UberEats voucher to staff and firms affected by the disruption. The gesture, intended as a token of gratitude, was seen as insufficient by some. A Reddit user remarked, “I literally wanted to drive my car off a bridge this weekend and they bought me coffee. Nice.”
Insurance firm Parametrix reported that the top 500 US companies by revenue, excluding Microsoft, incurred $5.4 billion (£4.1 billion) in financial losses due to the outage.
