The CrowdStrike Outage: What CEOs and Boards Should Do Today
On 19 July, CrowdStrike, a cyber-security firm, issued a defective content update for its security software, leading to an estimated 8.5 million Microsoft Windows computers crashing and becoming unable to restart correctly. This resulted in an extensive outages and knock-on impacts to technology systems and services that relied upon them. The outage disrupted daily operations for many financial services firms, but also businesses and governments worldwide, impacting various industries, such as airlines, airports, hotels, hospitals, manufacturing, broadcasting, fuel stations, and retail stores. It also affected public services, including emergency services and booking systems.
This will take time to fix—an uncomfortable, powerless position for CEOs and directors. But even here, amid the mess, there is opportunity. What should you be doing to put this crisis to use? You should be watching and evaluating and learning how your team and your technology is responding in real time.
The unprecedented IT outages and the subsequent disruption underscore the importance of effective operational resilience planning, highlighting that resilience isn't just a regulatory requirement but an essential element of ongoing business operations. Effective operational resilience requires engagement across the organisation to identify key services, understand the supply chain and assess vulnerabilities. This requires structure, controlled coordination, and the right level of ongoing senior management engagement and sponsorship.
