CrowdStrike’s "I’m Sorry, Not Sorry" Approach to Global IT Outage
As the annual Black Hat cybersecurity conference descended upon the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, thousands of professionals swarmed the halls, eager to showcase their latest tools and techniques. Amidst the chaos, one company stood out – or rather, stumbled out – CrowdStrike, the self-proclaimed "foremost provider of cloud-delivered endpoint and workload protection solutions."
Just a few weeks prior, CrowdStrike had pushed a faulty software update that crippled at least 8.5 million computers worldwide, causing flight delays, hospital disruptions, and even halting some surgeries. The company’s response? A half-hearted apology and a paltry $10 Uber Eats gift card for its affected partners.
But hey, the show must go on, and at Black Hat, CrowdStrike was determined to put on a brave face. The company’s booth was abuzz with activity, with employees enthusiastically doling out action figures representing nation-state and cybercriminal groups. A massive screen in the hallway displayed the message: "Adversaries aren’t stopping. Neither are we." Resilience starts with us. Our focus remains with you."
Talk about a case of "I’m sorry, not sorry." The company’s PR spin doctors must have been busy crafting this PR stunt to distract from the fact that, well, they messed up.
"I just thought it would be dead, honestly. I thought it would be slower over there. But obviously, people are still fans, right?" a conference attendee observed, seemingly oblivious to the company’s recent fiasco.
Not everyone was so forgiving, though. Seth Faeder, an engineer at ClearChoice Dental Implants Centers, wasn’t impressed. "It’s definitely given me more of a negative outlook on the company, for sure. We actually wound up telling [his colleagues] that they might want to actually look into Sophos after that."
And let’s not forget the memes. The internet has been flooded with CrowdStrike-themed jokes, from "Fowlstrike" stickers to fake Uber Eats gift cards. It’s a phenomenon that’s both hilarious and disturbing – a stark reminder that even the most serious industries can’t escape the wrath of the internet.
As the conference wrapped up, it was unclear whether the global outage had damaged CrowdStrike’s reputation or simply added to its legend. But one thing’s for sure: the company’s PR team has their work cut out for them.
