This summer the world experienced a widespread technical outage linked to a company called CrowdStrike. As the massive disruptions were being felt in many industries, media outlets turned to our Cybersecurity BPS Program Director, Dr. Scott J. White, for his expert analysis and insights during the outage.
So what happened? In short, it all started with a routine software update. CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, inadvertently crashed customers’ Windows systems and caused a massive disruption to multiple industries around the world, including airlines, hospitals and beyond.
According to White, "The failure of CrowdStrike's Falcon sensor update on July 19, 2024 caused disruptions to critical industries worldwide and overwhelmingly demonstrated the need for stringent testing procedures, particularly in simulating diverse real-world environments, before any updates are deployed."
His commentary appeared in multiple media outlets. Coverage included the following print, radio and television mentions:
From USA Today: “Painful' wake-up call: What's next for CrowdStrike, Microsoft after update causes outage?"
“The issue we're dealing with is that the world is complex and interdependent, and the fact is that the technology that we use is global,” said Scott White, an associate professor and director of the cybersecurity program and cyber academy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. "We've become dependent on organizations like (Microsoft)."
From KCBS-AM: KCBS-AM, San Francisco interviews Scott White. Listen to the audio.
From Newsweek: “CrowdStrike Outage Wipes Billions Off Company's Value, Share Price Plunges."
The market's always a volatile thing," Scott J. White of George Washington University told Newsweek.
White, the director of the university's Cybersecurity Program and Cyber Academy said,"CrowdStrike is an excellent cyber defense company with global reach. But I think what it demonstrates to us at a macro level, is the complex and interdependent relationship that exists in the world of technology. Inevitably, you're not going to have an absolutely perfect system."
"That there seems to have been a relatively quick disclosure, CrowdStrike is keeping the community informed, that tells me they're a good corporate citizen in the marketplace."
"There is no attempt to obfuscate or attempt to hide, they've been very upfront, they've taken responsibility for this," he added.
White said CrowdStrike would need to thoroughly examine how the outage happened and continue to keep the public informed.
From RTVI: Russia’s RTVI interviewed Scott White. Watch the video (in Russian).
From KNX-AM: KNX-AM, Los Angeles, spoke to Scott White about the CrowdStrike glitch. Listen to the audio.
From USA Today: “CrowdStrike shares details on cause of global tech outage."
“The fact that a proper analysis wasn't done ended up having this huge cascading problem that companies are still dealing with today,” said Scott White, an associate professor and director of the cybersecurity program and cyber academy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
“You hope that the producers are doing their due diligence. And I have to wait to see what their explanation is,” White of George Washington University said. “I don't care that you found the glitch. My problem is, why did the glitch hit the marketplace at all? And that's what seems to be missing here.”
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