Wednesday, 7 August 2024, Bengaluru, India
Microsoft has responded to a legal action brought against it by Delta Air Lines in a battle involving other big players in the technology sector. The airline recently blamed Microsoft and cybersecurity software firm CrowdStrike for a huge technology outage saying that the fiasco cost them $500 million. However, Microsoft is now contesting assertions by Delta.
Image Source: Tech Xplore
Incomplete and Misleading Claims
The Delta CEO Ed Bastian shifted the blame on Microsoft and CrowdStrike, also stressing the financial loss incurred by the company due to the outage. However, Microsoft has risen to the challenge by coming up with quick and aggressive counter-strategies. Microsoft’s attorney Mark Cheffo sent a letter of complaint to Delta’s attorney David Boies, stating that Delta’s public statements were ‘incomplete, false, misleading and damaging’ to Microsoft. Cheffo wondered why other airlines take less time to return to normalcy than Delta.
Key IT Systems and Delta’s Investment in IT
Cheffo further pointed out that companies’ most important IT systems cannot solely depend on Microsoft Windows, suggesting that Delta’s most important systems probably use technologies provided by other companies. It is important to make this distinction to effectively identify the cause of the outage. To this, Delta pointed to its major commitment to providing more reliable service. Since its inception in 2016, the airline has invested billions of dollars in IT capital and IT spending annually. A Delta spokesperson refused to give any more information regarding the current conflict on the matter.
Reason for Tech Outage in Delta
The outage at Delta was caused by a failed software update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that impacted computer systems that use Microsoft Windows. Delta took longer to rebound compared to its competitors, with the airline canceling more than 5,000 flights in the days following the event of July 19. An additional factor could be the airline’s dependence on legacy IT systems, which might have prolonged the disruption process. Microsoft, however, disagrees with the claims of Delta and argues that other airlines took less time to recover. This continues to be the case as these matters are under investigation.
CrowdStrike’s Role and Silent CEO
Another stakeholder who refuted Delta’s allegations was CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm. CrowdStrike and Microsoft insist that Delta turned down their offers to help address the shutdown. Ironically, Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, contacted Ed Bastian during the crisis through an email, but the latter remained silent. This lack of communication brings another mystery into the chronicle.
CrowdStrike’s Software Update
On July 19, 2024, the American cybersecurity organization CrowdStrike released a wrong update to its Falcon Sensor security program. This update led to more issues on Microsoft Windows computers that use the software. undefined Five million systems shut down and failed to boot back up correctly, an event that has been described as the worst blackout ever in information technology history. It impacted the day-to-day life, communities, businesses, all segments of government, and all sectors of businesses and industries such as airlines, airports, banks, hospitals, and so on. It has been stated that the financial losses of the affected companies are no less than $10 billion. Even though a patch was launched, manual actions were required, resulting in the continuation of outages on many of the services. It illustrates the fine line between IT and dependability in a dependant society.
Conclusion
Aside from the legal battle that has accompanied this story, it highlights the volatile relationship between technology and dependability. Like all other industries, the airline industry relies greatly on the efficiency of IT systems. When those systems fail, problems manifest themselves in operations, customer relations, and, ultimately, profits.
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