Global CrowdStrike IT outage impacting airports and more

[Lynda2475]

So they've sent the recovery key to everyone in the company?

No recovery keys are device specific and available if the device is registered to you. I was able to log onto 365 account from my personal laptop, and retrieve the recovery key. Not that it worked.

And retyping such a massive sequence of numbers so many attempts is a real pain.

Post automatically merged: Jul 20, 2024

Indeed my IT team have said people will need to schedule in a time to come in - could be days if not weeks for the whole company to get through it

And if it takes weeks then I'll be gone!!

I can check email and teams via the cloud or my mobile BUT other apps and servers I need to access are local install only (like ms project and internal apps) or can only be accessed via VPN on a company owned device (finance, secure file servers). So lots of end of month stuff I cant do without a company issued laptop.

 

[Quickstatus]

And if it takes weeks then I'll be gone!!

No WFH for the IT departments.....

 

[Xrayspice]

They should be offering refund to original payment method, not voucher. That’s a frustration I have with our carriers.

I agree

 

[Xrayspice]

No refund?

Refunds are not that great, especially if you buy the cheap Jetstar fares. I wasn’t impacted yesterday, but when Jetstar canceled my flight, when I was on the way to the airport, (to fly home) the refund would not have covered the cost of the taxi back in to the city. When at the airport, they put everyone on the next Qantas flights. Lucky there were two or three more that day.

 

[RooFlyer]

So, given its a straightforward cough-up by Crowdstrike (at least as far as I've read), is there any way this company can survive the avalanche of litigation and lawsuits that will inevitably come? Or do they have a T&C which says "if we screw up, you can't blame us" ?

 

[Lynda2475]

No WFH for the IT departments.....

I imagine plenty in IT have admin accounts and might be hiding out so they dont have to help rebuild laptops come Monday

 

[TheRealTMA]

So, given its a straightforward cough-up by Crowdstrike (at least as far as I've read), is there any way this company can survive the avalanche of litigation and lawsuits that will inevitably come? Or do they have a T&C which says "if we screw up, you can't blame us" ?

“It worked fine when we tested it!” Must be your computer or Microsoft issue.

“8.2 Product Warranty. If Customer has purchased a Product, CrowdStrike warrants to Customer during the applicable Subscription/Order Term that: (i) the Product will operate without Error; and (ii) CrowdStrike has used industry standard techniques to prevent the Products at the time of delivery from injecting malicious software viruses into your Endpoints where the Products are installed. You must notify CrowdStrike of any warranty claim during the Subscription/Order Term. Your sole and exclusive remedy and the entire liability of CrowdStrike for its breach of this warranty will be for CrowdStrike, at its own expense to do at least one of the following: (a) use commercially reasonable efforts to provide a work-around or correct such Error; or (b) terminate your license to access and use the applicable non-conforming Product and refund the prepaid fee prorated for the unused period of the Subscription/Order Term. CrowdStrike shall have no obligation regarding Errors reported after the applicable Subscription/Order Term.”

 

[Daver6]

So, given its a straightforward cough-up by Crowdstrike (at least as far as I've read), is there any way this company can survive the avalanche of litigation and lawsuits that will inevitably come? Or do they have a T&C which says "if we screw up, you can't blame us" ?

This won't have any long term impact to the company's financial position IMHO.

 

[RooFlyer]

This won't have any long term impact to the company's financial position IMHO.

You know the IT business much better than me, but given the huge financial impact this has had on companies worldwide, how can they not be sued massively? I see the Warranty disclaimer posted by @TheRealTMA ; so don't sue them under warranty, just sue them for negligence resulting in <very large> financial loss.

 

[Quickstatus]

just sue them for negligence resulting in <very large> financial loss.

A warranty or commercial T&C is often not an invincible legal shield.

 

[antycbr]

This won't have any long term impact to the company's financial position IMHO.

Putting penalties aside … When the contract ends I don’t think many IT managers or CIOs will feel too keen to sign a new contract with Crowdstrike.

 

[Himeno]

When I got to work this morning, there were 3 checkouts and 1 work station working.
After about an hour, we got messages from IT giving directions on how to reboot the systems and get them connected to download a new boot image.
All the checkouts were going again by lunch and the last work station was back online shortly before I finished.

 

[Daver6]

You know the IT business much better than me, but given the huge financial impact this has had on companies worldwide, how can they not be sued massively? I see the Warranty disclaimer posted by @TheRealTMA ; so don't sue them under warranty, just sue them for negligence resulting in <very large> financial loss.

Would you have legal recourse if you're trying to book a concert ticket that's in demand and the concert sells out in 5 minutes. Windows crashes. Your ISP goes down. I don't think you'd have a legal case. Same if you're trying to sell some shares. What if the power goes out. Same deal.

Of course, I'm not a legal expert and could be wrong.

 

[Forg]

Would you have legal recourse if you're trying to book a concert ticket that's in demand and the concert sells out in 5 minutes. Windows crashes. Your ISP goes down. I don't think you'd have a legal case. Same if you're trying to sell some shares. What if the power goes out. Same deal.

Of course, I'm not a legal expert and could be wrong.

A lot of stuff in the law seems like … well, like the rules for a successful Development Approval with a council. Fluffy, not necessarily defined solidly, and open to interpretation.

I reckon a lot of ambulance-chasers are running around contacting The Affected right now!

 

[TheRealTMA]

You know the IT business much better than me, but given the huge financial impact this has had on companies worldwide, how can they not be sued massively? I see the Warranty disclaimer posted by @TheRealTMA ; so don't sue them under warranty, just sue them for negligence resulting in <very large> financial loss.

Cause it was a Microsoft problem.

 

[Forg]

Cause it was a Microsoft problem.

Why do you say that?
[not being facetious - I truly don’t know what’s going on here]

 

[Daver6]

Why do you say that?
[not being facetious - I truly don’t know what’s going on here]

It was Windows that crashed (and couldn't reboot) caused by the Crowdstrike application causing a kernel panic.

 

[Forg]

It was Windows that crashed (and couldn't reboot) caused by the Crowdstrike application causing a kernel panic.

I dunno … that seems a bit like blaming the car when the tyres explode at speed so the car runs into a telegraph pole … ?

 

[Quickstatus]

blaming the car when the tyres explode at speed so the car runs into a telegraph pole … ?

When it can be shown that the tyres caused the crash, yes the tyre manufacturer may find liability attached. A lot of investigations do a "Root Cause Analysis".

When QF32 engine disintegrated, the root cause was found to be a fault in Rolls Royce's quality assurance in manufacturing an oil feed pipe.


In this case it appears that the fault was caused by programmers doing something that is known to cause a fault.

 

[Denali]

When I got to work this morning, there were 3 checkouts and 1 work station working.
After about an hour, we got messages from IT giving directions on how to reboot the systems and get them connected to download a new boot image.
All the checkouts were going again by lunch and the last work station was back online shortly before I finished.

Im going into the office tomorrow (Sunday) to test/prep for Monday's IT restart issues. I have multiple company payrolls to complete Monday and remotely nothing is working but Im told all is back to normal so fun, fun.