Millions lost due to CrowdStrike bug?

Just under a week ago, the security company CrowdStrike caused worldwide chaos when a failed update caused around 8.5 million Windows PCs to stop working. Now the damage is being limited – using “interesting” methods.

Blue screens on almost nine million PCs

CrowdStrike is a renowned provider of cybersecurity solutions, which is why the company also has quite “deep” access to operating systems such as Windows 11. But last Friday, this backfired completely, because a faulty update caused millions of Windows computers around the world to give up the ghost with a blue screen – and this led to restrictions and chaos at airports, hospitals, banks and TV stations. According to a report by TechCrunch sent an email to its partners apologizing for any inconvenience. The company said that it is aware that the July 19 incident caused a lot of additional work. In the email, CrowdStrike also explained some details about the problem and what it did as a result.

Small thanks”

The email was sent by Daniel Bernard, CrowdStrike’s Chief Business Officer, and the manager (or his employee) saved the real punch line for the end. It reads:

“As a thank you, the next coffee or late evening snack is on us! Use [diesen] Code to get your Uber Eats credit.” Daniel Bernard, Chief Business Officer, CrowdStrike

Some companies that lost millions as a result of the incident may see this as a mockery, but that’s not all: The CrowdStrike voucher didn’t work for long. The reason: The delivery service Uber Eats deactivated the code very quickly. “We sent (these codes) to our colleagues and partners who helped customers in this situation. Uber classified it as fraud due to the high usage rates,” CrowdStrike spokesman Kevin Benacci confirmed the action and the code deactivation in an email to TechCrunch. As strange as the voucher is, the security company will probably not be able to avert claims for damages with it. These will undoubtedly come, for example the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein has already announced corresponding steps.