In the wake of a massive global tech outage that disrupted flights, banking systems, and hospital services worldwide, U.S. House leaders have summoned CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify before Congress. The cybersecurity firm is under scrutiny for a defective software update that affected approximately 8.5 million Windows-operated machines last Friday.
Republican leaders from the House Homeland Security Committee, including Representative Mark E. Green of Tennessee and Representative Andrew Garbarino of New York, have urged for prompt answers. \"While we appreciate CrowdStrike's response and coordination with stakeholders, we cannot ignore the magnitude of this incident, which some have claimed is the largest IT outage in history,\" they stated in a letter to Kurtz.
The faulty update led to widespread disruptions across critical sectors such as airlines, banks, and hospitals, requiring IT teams to manually delete corrupted files to restore functionality. CrowdStrike has reported that a significant number of affected computers are back online as customers and regulators await a detailed explanation.
In response to the crisis, CrowdStrike announced on Sunday the implementation of a new technique aimed at accelerating the remediation process. The company also confirmed ongoing communications with congressional committees in a brief statement released on Monday.
The incident has had a substantial impact on CrowdStrike's market value, with the Texas-based company's shares dropping over 20 percent. Additionally, government regulators, including antitrust authorities, are monitoring the situation closely to determine if further actions are necessary.
\"All too often these days, a single glitch results in a system-wide outage, affecting industries from healthcare and airlines to banks and auto-dealers,\" noted Lina Khan, chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, on social media platform X. \"Millions of people and businesses pay the price. These incidents reveal how concentration can create fragile systems.\"
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CrowdStrike CEO called to testify to Congress over global tech outage
cgtn.com
