CrowdStrike is firmly contesting allegations made by Delta Air Lines, accusing the carrier of unjustly blaming the cybersecurity firm for a significant outage that occurred last month, which resulted in thousands of flight cancellations and severe disruptions for travelers. The conflict between the two companies has escalated, with CrowdStrike asserting that Delta’s legal threats are part of a misleading narrative intended to deflect responsibility from Delta’s own handling of the situation.
In a detailed letter sent on Sunday, CrowdStrike’s legal representatives, including Michael Carlinsky from the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, refuted Delta’s claims by highlighting that the airline had previously turned down multiple offers of assistance from CrowdStrike. Notably, the letter emphasizes that CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, had personally reached out to Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, offering on-site support. However, this offer was reportedly ignored, underscoring CrowdStrike’s stance that Delta’s decision to move forward with legal action is not only unwarranted but also an attempt to misattribute fault for the outage.
The dispute intensified when Delta announced its intention to pursue legal action against CrowdStrike, as well as Microsoft, due to a bug in CrowdStrike’s Falcon security platform. This flaw led to widespread system failures, which impacted Delta’s operations severely. Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, disclosed to CNBC that the airline estimated its losses from the outage at approximately $500 million. This substantial financial impact highlights the seriousness of the operational disruptions faced by Delta and has prompted the airline to engage the services of renowned attorney David Boies to evaluate potential claims against both CrowdStrike and Microsoft.
The nature of the outage was tied to a malfunction in CrowdStrike’s quality control tool, which is used to verify the accuracy of system updates. An error in this tool led to a problematic update being distributed to over 8 million devices globally running Microsoft Windows. This update caused these devices to crash, resulting in a cascading effect that severely disrupted Delta’s systems and operations.
As the situation unfolds, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection has launched an investigation into how Delta managed the crisis. This scrutiny adds another layer of complexity to the already tense situation. Delta, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, was among the hardest-hit airlines during this incident, with its operations experiencing significant interruptions and contributing to a broader scrutiny of the airline’s response to the crisis.
CrowdStrike’s response underscores its commitment to defending its reputation and clarifying the events surrounding the outage. The firm argues that its technology and response were not at fault and that the legal threats from Delta are an attempt to divert attention from the airline’s own operational and managerial challenges during the outage.