CrowdStrike has
responded assertively to Delta
Air Lines after the carrier’s CEO, Ed Bastian, accused the cybersecurity
firm of being responsible for a service disruption that allegedly cost Delta
$500 million.
The widespread
IT outage, caused by a flawed software update, began on July 19 and
impacted not only airlines, but hundreds of other companies worldwide. For
Delta in particular, the resulting service disruptions lasted nearly a week and
resulted in the cancellation of thousands of flights.
In a letter from
CrowdStrike’s legal counsel to Delta's legal team on Sunday, the cybersecurity
company rejected Bastian’s accusations and highlighted Delta’s own deficiencies.
It said that it was, “highly disappointed by Delta’s suggestion that
CrowdStrike acted inappropriately, and strongly rejects any allegation that it
was grossly negligent or committed willful misconduct.”
According to CNN,
although Bastian claimed that CrowdStrike failed to offer any support during
the crisis, Sunday’s letter stated that CrowdStrike’s CEO George Kurtz
personally made an offer of onsite assistance at the time, which went
unanswered. The letter further noted that Delta later told CrowdStrike it didn’t
need any help during the airline's five-day disaster.
Michael Carlinsky,
CrowdStrike's attorney, wrote in the letter that Delta’s public threat
of a lawsuit, “contributed to a misleading narrative that CrowdStrike is
responsible for Delta’s IT decisions and response to the outage,” adding, “Should
Delta pursue this path, Delta will have to explain to the public, its
shareholders, and ultimately a jury why CrowdStrike took responsibility for its
actions—swiftly, transparently, and constructively—while Delta did not.”
The IT meltdown
severely affected Delta's operations and impeded its crucial crew tracking
system, thwarting its ability to find pilots and flight attendants to staff its
airplanes. This led to the cancellation of about 30 percent of its flights over
the course of five days, which left an approximate total of 500,000 passengers
stranded. After IT functionality was restored, it still took many days to rebook
impacted passengers and get their checked luggage back to them.
Other airlines
affected by the same outage managed to restore operations much faster, a point
CrowdStrike emphasized, questioning Delta’s IT infrastructure resiliency. The
traveling public has likewise questioned and complained about Delta’s long delay
in getting operations back on track, and delivering affected passengers to
their destinations.
Despite Delta’s outspoken
criticism, CrowdStrike maintains that it acted appropriately and fulfilled its
contractual obligations. The firm mentioned that its liabilities are
contractually capped in the single millions, far less than the $500 million
Delta allegedly lost.
The cybersecurity
firm also stated it is prepared to defend itself vigorously if litigation
proceeds. “CrowdStrike will respond aggressively, if forced to do so, in order
to protect its shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders,” the letter
said.
Delta, represented
by high-profile attorney David Boies, has not yet filed a lawsuit, but has
indicated its intention to seek compensation from both CrowdStrike and
Microsoft, whose Windows operating system was affected by the faulty software
update.
“We have no
choice,” Bastian reportedly told CNBC. “We have to protect our shareholders, we
have to protect our customers (and) our employees for the damage, not just the
cost but the reputational damage.”
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