Congress will convene its first hearing on the global CrowdStrike outage this month, marking a critical juncture in assessing the cybersecurity giant's reliability and impact on national security, Axios reported.
A House Homeland Security subcommittee announced Friday that it will hold the first congressional hearing on the outage, which disrupted businesses across various sectors and impacted roughly 8.5 million Windows devices.
The Sept. 24 hearing is expected to be a crucial measure of the cybersecurity firm's standing and trustworthiness in Washington and among its customers.
Adam Meyers, senior vice president of counter adversary operations at CrowdStrike, has been called to testify before the House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee. The focus of the hearing will likely center on the broader implications of the outage, particularly concerning supply-chain security, rather than solely on the event.
"While we can be thankful that this wasn't a cyberattack, this incident demonstrates the urgency of promoting cyber hygiene and resiliency amid increased threats," Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., Chair of the Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement.
CrowdStrike spokesperson Kevin Benacci confirmed that the company is cooperating with congressional committees. He noted that additional congressional engagements, including briefings, might be disclosed at the discretion of the involved members.
Congress' interest in this matter escalated after lawmakers initially requested CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz testify about the outage, which was traced to a faulty security update. During a recent earnings call, Kurtz acknowledged that the incident has led customers to scrutinize their agreements with the company more thoroughly, signaling potential challenges for CrowdStrike.
The hearing takes on added significance considering recent developments, including Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian's threat to sue CrowdStrike for $500 million in damages.
The airline claimed that the faulty software update affected over 8 million computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system. Delta said the update caused massive disruptions, including thousands of canceled flights and substantial financial losses in mid-July.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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