CrowdStrike on outage: ‘Bad actors will try to exploit events like this’

Editor’s note: Check out our oft-updated live blog for all new developments about the Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage.

It was a truly awful day for CrowdStrike.

There’s almost zero chance you missed it, but, in case you did, an issue with a software update from the cybersecurity firm caused a meltdown of the world’s IT infrastructure, putting countless Microsoft machines into the Blue Screen of Death. Nearly every industry was affected. Thousands of flights were canceled, hospitals turned away patients, and banks were affected.

Toward the end of the day Friday, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz put out a statement. Though hardly his first for the day, he did delve into a few new territories.

“I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for today’s outage,” Kurtz wrote in a statement. “All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation. We quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix, allowing us to focus diligently on restoring customer systems as our highest priority.”

The apology seems pointed, considering that Kurtz and CrowdStrike were criticized early on Friday for the lack of an apology over the massive issue.

Later, Kurtz noted there could be danger ahead.

He wrote:

“We know that adversaries and bad actors will try to exploit events like this. I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and ensure that you’re engaging with official CrowdStrike representatives. Our blog and technical support will continue to be the official channels for the latest updates.

Nothing is more important to me than the trust and confidence that our customers and partners have put into CrowdStrike. As we resolve this incident, you have my commitment to provide full transparency on how this occurred and steps we’re taking to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

While the issue on Friday was not a cyberattack, it’s interesting to note that the CrowdStrike CEO warned of potential bad actors in the future.