CrowdStrike CEO to Testify About Massive Outage That Halted Flights, Hospitals

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has been called to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee about the massive outage affecting Windows PCs caused by a faulty update that disrupted flights, hospital procedures and broadcasters on Friday, The Washington Post reported.

“Recognizing that Americans will undoubtedly feel the lasting and real consequences of this incident, they deserve to know in detail how this incident happened and the mitigation measures CrowdStrike is taking,” said Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN ) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) wrote in a letter later shared with On the edge. They asked CrowdStrike to schedule a hearing with the subcommittee by the end of Wednesday.

Kurtz assured the public on Friday in a post on social media that the massive outage was “not a security or cyber incident.” Instead, he pointed out “an issue with a Falcon content update for Windows Hosts,” referring to the company’s security software.

CrowdStrike spokesman Kevin Benacci said in a statement that the company “is actively in contact with the relevant congressional committees. Briefings and other engagement schedules may be released at Members’ discretion.”