It was the IT outage heard (and felt) ‘round the world.
On July 19, CrowdStrike, a leader in cybersecurity, released a faulty update for their flagship CrowdStrike Falcon software that impacted Windows IT systems worldwide. It caused the “Blue Screen of Death” boot error, which had huge global consequences for businesses, airlines, and emergency services. Flights and hospital appointments were canceled, payroll systems seized up, and TV channels went off air following the blunder.
CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, confirmed on X that a “defect” in a Windows update caused the outage and ruled out a cyberattack.
As of August 2024, most services have returned online.
How to prepare for data disruptions and disasters
Even though the dust has mostly settled on this catastrophe, let this be a reminder: you never want to get caught without a backup plan, like many did when this outage happened.
Luckily for us at Rewind, backups are our specialty, which means we’ve got plenty of insight into how an organization can prepare for a cyber crisis like this.
Our Director of Security, Megan Dean, says there are many lessons to be learned from this massive cyber crisis: “It’s difficult to foresee every business stopping risk that could impact your organization. Thankfully, there are some best practices to follow to help prepare your business when things don’t go as planned.”
First, be vigilant for phishing emails from bad actors posing as CrowdStrike. Also, avoid fake fixes online that contain suspicious links and files. Only consult trustworthy sources for updates or advice.
Second, there are some best practices you can follow to help prepare your business when things don’t go as planned. A Business Impact Assessment can help predict the effects of a disruption to your business. In addition, it gathers the info needed to develop recovery plans. Ask yourself: “Can I restore the data lost in these systems if the worst were to occur?” “Can my business operate if these systems were to go down for a prolonged period of time?”
You should also run Incident Response and Business Continuity Simulations. We all wish we had a crystal ball that could tell us what and when the next global business-stopping event is going to take place, or we had an alarm that could warn you when you’ve had a bad night’s sleep, and you’re about to make a mistake that accidentally deletes thousands of files. Performing these drills will help you find gaps, build business resilience, and train your team for real events.
Last, you need to work with your key third-party suppliers to better understand their disaster recovery strategies and how they impact your business.
At the end of the day, your data is your responsibility.
Get peace of mind with Rewind
Decrease your recovery time and save yourself from manual rebuilding with Rewind’s automatic, set-it-and-forget-it data backup and restoration solutions. Our apps integrate directly with your SaaS platform, allowing you to restore individual items of data or your entire file set. Learn more about how Rewind protects your business-critical data.
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