- Major airlines, banks and retailers were disrupted by IT outages linked to CrowdStrike.
- For cybersecurity companies, restoring their reputations will likely be a tough task.
- Analysts and other experts explain how to respond.
CrowdStrike, which garnered global attention on Friday, still has a long way to go before it can regain customer trust.
Major airlines, banks and retailers around the world experienced widespread disruptions linked to IT outages on Friday after Microsoft reported issues linked to problems at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Dan Ives, a technology analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in a note seen by Business Insider that this is “clearly a major blemish” on the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Ives said the company “needs to take next steps to limit the damage from this matter in the coming weeks and months.”
The impact of the outage spread quickly, with CrowdStrike shares falling as much as 20% in pre-market trading on Friday, while Microsoft shares were down 3% in pre-market trading on Friday.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized for the incident in a post on X on Friday. He said, “We understand the gravity of the situation and deeply apologize for any inconvenience and trouble caused. We are working with all affected customers to restore our systems.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also addressed the outage in a LinkedIn post on Friday. He wrote:“Yesterday, CrowdStrike released an update that has begun impacting IT systems around the world. We are aware of this issue and are working closely with CrowdStrike and the industry at large to provide technical guidance and support to help customers get their systems back online safely.”
Regaining user trust
If CrowdStrike wants to restore its reputation, crisis management will likely be a top priority.
Howard Robinson, director at Astute, a PR firm with experience in crisis management, told BI: “Transparency and communication will be key not only to getting through the current crisis, but to restoring users' trust and confidence.”
Kate Hartley, author of “Communicating in Crisis” and co-founder of crisis simulation company Polpeo, told BI that while many people may not have heard of CrowdStrike before the incident, “we now know about it for all the wrong reasons, so the company's response is really important.”
Robinson added that CrowdStrike likely has a detailed contingency plan for surviving this PR disaster.
“It takes years to build a reputation but only hours to damage it, but whether it can be repaired depends largely on how the company responds,” he said.
Customers are likely to switch
Dan Coatsworth, an analyst at AJ Bell, said the outage could cause serious problems for organisations that rely solely on the service to protect their online operations.
“Prolonged disruption is another issue and could be damaging to businesses and the economy,” Coatsworth said.
This misstep may lead some customers to switch to competing platforms.
CrowdStrike did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
