CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, has denied responsibility for the flight disruptions experienced by Delta Air Lines following a global outage on July 19. The outage was caused by a faulty update, and Delta CEO Ed Bastian claimed it cost the airline $500 million and plans to take legal action against CrowdStrike.
CrowdStrike’s Response
In a letter, CrowdStrike:
1. Apologized to Delta but rejected allegations of gross negligence or misconduct.
2. Stated that any liability is contractually capped at an amount in the single-digit millions.
3. Offered assistance to Delta within hours of the outage, including onsite help from their CEO, but received no response.
4. Suggested that Delta’s slow recovery compared to other airlines may be due to their complex IT system and decision to decline free onsite help.
Delta’s Claims
Delta:
1. Canceled over 6,000 flights, affecting 500,000 passengers.
2. Faces a US Transportation Department investigation into their slow recovery.
3. Claimed CrowdStrike’s faulty update impacted half of their computers, requiring manual recovery.
Next Steps
The situation may lead to legal action, with CrowdStrike urging Delta to work cooperatively to find a resolution.
