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CrowdStrike crash: When protectors become the problem
Centralised cyber-security solutions add to efficiency but can also create a single point of failure.
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Worldwide, numerous businesses and critical infrastructures found themselves at a complete standstill.
PHOTO: AFP
Kelvin Law
On July 19, a routine software update from cyber-security giant CrowdStrike went catastrophically wrong. The update triggered a cascade of system failures that paralysed businesses and critical infrastructure worldwide. This wasn’t a hack or a cyber attack. Instead, the culprit was a faulty code update – a routine maintenance gone wrong.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. As Friday afternoon settled in across Asia, many companies were heading into their busiest periods before the weekend. By the time New York woke up, the problem had snowballed into a full-blown crisis.
