CrowdStrike lashes out at Delta and calls its lawsuit ‘meritless’ after it reportedly rejected ‘free onsite help’ leading to half a billion flight disruption losses

CrowdStrike lashes out at Delta and calls its lawsuit 'meritless' after it reportedly rejected 'free onsite help' leading to half a billion flight disruption losses

What you need to know

  • CrowdStrike fires back at Delta Air Lines after the airline company indicated it will seek damages amounting to $500 million.
  • The cybersecurity firm says Delta’s lawsuit is ‘meritless’ and would prefer to work cooperatively with Delta to find a solution.
  • Delta reportedly didn’t respond to CrowdStrike’s free onsite IT consultation offer during the outage.

As a seasoned tech enthusiast who has weathered numerous digital storms, I find myself deeply engrossed in this intriguing saga between Delta Air Lines and CrowdStrike. The digital pandemic that has disrupted both giants is a stark reminder of the interconnectedness of our modern world and the potential pitfalls it presents.


The ongoing digital issue stemming from a flawed CrowdStrike kernel driver is escalating problems. Recently, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian disclosed a loss of $500 million over five days due to flight cancellations, refunds, and other costs. In response, the company has decided to take legal action against Microsoft and CrowdStrike, with high-profile attorney David Boies being brought on board to seek compensation for the incurred damages.

The CEO of Delta hinted at possibly revising their collaboration with Microsoft and CrowdStrike due to security issues, and he questioned the reliability of Microsoft compared to Apple by asking “When was the last significant downtime experienced by Apple?”. However, a seasoned Microsoft Software Engineer recently provided an explanation for the recent global outage that affected 8.5 million Windows devices with blue screen errors, which might clear Microsoft of blame. Yet, despite this explanation, Microsoft continues to face criticism.

Over the last few weeks, criticism for the digital crisis has been passed between CrowdStrike and Microsoft. Yet, CrowdStrike clearly states that it is not responsible for the outage that disrupted Microsoft’s services, causing thousands of travelers to be stranded in airports (as reported by The Wall Street Journal).

Who caused the global IT outage? CrowdStrike says it’s not at fault

CrowdStrike lashes out at Delta and calls its lawsuit 'meritless' after it reportedly rejected 'free onsite help' leading to half a billion flight disruption losses

In a letter of apology sent to the airline, CrowdStrike expressed deep disappointment over the suggestion that they had behaved inappropriately. They firmly deny any claims that they were negligent in a serious manner or engaged in unethical conduct.

In simple terms, Delta CEO Ed Bastian stated in an interview with CNBC that if you want special access to the Delta system, it’s essential to thoroughly test any software or tools before using them. He emphasized that problems can’t be tolerated in a continuous 24/7 operation like their mission-critical one. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz mentioned he quickly contacted Bastian after an outage and offered onsite assistance, but didn’t get a reply. Later, it was confirmed by Bastian that CrowdStrike had indeed offered free IT consultation advice.

According to CrowdStrike, a problem with an update impacted more than half of Delta’s computer systems, which includes numerous workstations across all airports within the Delta network. Due to the intricate nature of Delta’s IT system, a manual restoration process is necessary.

A representative from CrowdStrike expressed their hope that Delta Air Lines might collaborate with them to find a viable solution for the ongoing issues. The spokesperson also noted that making public statements about possibly suing CrowdStrike, a long-standing partner, is not conducive to any party’s benefit.

According to the letter from CrowdStrike sent to Delta, if the airline chooses to take legal action, they will need to address these questions in court:

  1. Why Delta’s competitors, facing similar challenges, all restored operations much faster?
  2. Why Delta turned down free onsite help from CrowdStrike professionals, who assisted many other customers to restore operations much more quickly than Delta?

In summary, the letter indicates that CrowdStrike’s potential liability is limited contractually to a figure in the tens of millions. It appears that no one is taking responsibility for the significant outage, with parties involved blaming each other instead. Is CrowdStrike’s mistake of sending incorrect $10 Uber Eats gift cards and an apology sufficient to persuade Delta to concede?

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2024-08-05 18:10