The Great Microsoft Crowdstrike Global IT Outage – Lessons for the Future of Work

Unless you have been living under a rock, and perhaps even if you have been, you will have seen the reports on the global outage that occurred. Which was the reason I missed the normal Friday Future of Work Newsletter slot.?

Not because my machine was down - or that I took the day off (which I love from the ad about) But… because my day was instantly insanely busy. As I was asked by a lot of national and international media companies to report on what had happened.

Which also meant I had to know - which a lot of people didn’t - what was happening and why - in a very live global news story. One which had even knocked out news stations… It was an amazingly stressful day..

For example, by 10am I had done 4 radio interviews and 1 TV slot - and that was before being able to walk the dog!

So what happened??

The Great Outage

It was because cybersecurity giant Crowdstrike made a major hiccup— an update that caused a global IT outage that left many of its clients scrambling to fix the un-fixable. Imagine logging in to check your company's security status and finding... nothing. But worst than that - that a update meant you couldn’t even log on. You had the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.

That's what happened to numerous businesses worldwide when Crowdstrike's Falcon update caused the Microsoft operating system to crash. This update designed to protect the system knocked out the operating system of pretty much 10 millions machines world wide.

So it knocked out planes, trains and (not quite automobiles) but so much of the modern world’s travel and banking and even the NHS appointment system and much more. So much so that we all must have a think about what this means for the future.?

For example, it's now reported that flight cancellations topped 30,000 over the three days following the outage, according to data from FlightAware . Whilst disruptions at UK and European airports continued through the weekend .

And the ripple effects from Friday's outage is likely to hobble many small businesses in the days ahead. With bigger implications for us all.

Excellently reported in the film that the BBC made with myself in it.?

Check out the full story on the BBC News. Listed below…

The Ripple Effect

This recent global IT outage has sent shock waves around the world of business and technology. And truly rattled the cybersecurity world. So it’s worth exploring what it means for the future of work and technology.

The outage caused quite a stir (to say the least), disrupting businesses that rely heavily on the Microsoft OS which it took down for some machines. But also the Crowdstrike’s tools for threat detection and cybersecurity management.

It was a stark reminder of how interconnected and dependent we've become on technology. And how human error can cause even the best in the biz to have an off day! For more details, read the BBC’s take on the impact of the outage below…

Expert Insights

I was brought in, with my Tech guru Dan Sodergren hat on, to weigh in on the situation in over 10 different interviews on radio and TV and across the world. My favourite perhaps being the Australian news station - as it was a bit of bucketlist moment for me.?

I was also in the BBC documentary. Which amusingly got interrupted as Biden stepped down from the presidency (another came to fame…as it happened just as I was speaking … Lol)?

In this documentary I try to highlight the importance of robust disaster recovery plans and diverse cybersecurity measures. And also to the world not relying on one company for so much of it’s technology.?

This is NOT Microsoft bashing. It’s just the fact, the more different systems people use the less there is one point of failure. Which is why China was not affected. As they don’t use Microsoft technology as much as we do.

Silver Linings and Solutions

Now for some good news! Microsoft quickly stepped in with a new recovery tool designed to help affected businesses bounce back. This collaboration shows that when tech giants come together, we can overcome even the toughest challenges. And we hope quickly…?(that new recovery tools is linked below too….)

…but things might take longer than we think.?

And I wonder who fits the bill for the #BSOD (the blue screen of death)?

And also, what does this all mean for us in the grand scheme of things??

Here are a few takeaways:

Expect the Unexpected: As our reliance on technology grows, so does the need for foolproof backup and recovery plans. Keep your disaster recovery plans up-to-date and test them regularly.

Embrace Flexibility: Outages and disruptions are a part of the tech landscape. Flexibility in your work environment, such as adopting remote and hybrid work models, can help mitigate these impacts.

Stay Informed: Keep an eye on the latest developments in technology and cybersecurity. Staying informed helps you anticipate and prepare for potential issues.

Invest in Resilience: Whether it's upgrading your tech infrastructure or training your team in cybersecurity best practices, investing in resilience is crucial.

What Can We Do?

This is a list of leaders of businesses rather than for employees. But it’s still worth thinking about. Especially in this time of AI. Which is why I have launched the AI Leadership Course.?

Review Your Tech Stack: Regularly audit your technology tools and services. Ensure they have robust support and recovery mechanisms.

Train Your Team: Cybersecurity is everyone's responsibility. Regular training can help your team recognize and respond to threats quickly.

Diversify Your Tools: Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Using multiple cybersecurity tools can provide a safety net in case one fails. But can you do the same for operating systems?

If your business is big enough: Start thinking about business continuity plans and cyber resilience and what can really happen if this happens again but on a larger scale.

You could always take a few days off... Like this cheeky ad suggested...

But joking aside... and remembering the HUGE amount of work done by thousands of people to try to get us all back online again, while the Crowdstrike outage was a significant disruption, perhaps the biggest the world has ever seen yet.

It also served as a valuable lesson in the importance of preparedness and resilience in the tech-driven world. And it could have been a lot worse.

So I guess we should also be grateful for small mercies and that it wasn’t a planned cyber attack.?Something that when it first happened a lot of people started to believe…

What do we do for the next time? Well… Let’s take these lessons to heart and continue to innovate and adapt in our ever-evolving digital landscape. And maybe our governments can remind profit hungry tech companies to think before they deploy buggy code. And to take more care next time…?

Will they listen? I don’t know. But let’s hope they do and this never happens again. Next time, it might be more than 10 million machines. It could be 10 million AI’s?

Until next time here’s to you and yours and the future of work.?

Yours sincerely

Dan Sodergren

References and further reading for the newsletter?

AI Leadership Course | Senior Leadership AI Training | Dan Sodergren

BBC News - The Worldwide Computer Crash - BBC iPlayer (with me in it)?

CrowdStrike and Microsoft: What we know about global IT outage - BBC News

CrowdStrike: 'Significant number' of impacted devices back online - BBC News

New Recovery Tool to help with CrowdStrike issue impacting Windows endpoints?

Likely eCrime Actor Capitalizing on Falcon Sensor Issues | CrowdStrike