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CrowdStrike CEO Clarifies Downtime Cause: No Security Breach, Stock Drops 15%

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has addressed recent downtime issues experienced by the cybersecurity firm, reassuring customers that the incident was neither a security breach nor a cyberattack.

In a post on the X social platform, Kurtz explained that the downtime was caused by a defect in a content update affecting Windows hosts.

He emphasized that Mac and Linux hosts were not impacted by this defect.

Kurtz elaborated that the issue stemmed from a specific content update for Windows hosts.

He stressed that it was not related to any security incident or cyberattack. The defect has been identified, isolated, and fixed.

He urged customers to check the support portal for the latest updates and to communicate with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.

The global outage caused significant disruptions across many systems running Microsoft’s Windows, affecting critical services such as emergency services, banking, air travel, and broadcasting. This issue appears to be linked to CrowdStrike’s cybersecurity software.

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Kurtz’s clarification should reassure users concerned about the downtime’s potential implications.

On July 18 at 11:41 pm UTC, Microsoft 365 Status reported on X that it was investigating an issue preventing access to various Microsoft 365 apps and services.

By 7:55 am UTC, Microsoft announced progress in restoring availability to multiple services and continued troubleshooting efforts.

The crypto community quickly seized the opportunity to create a series of new memecoins on Ethereum and Solana, inspired by CrowdStrike and the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” error screen.

According to CNBC, CrowdStrike’s stock had surged 118% over the past year.

However, following the downtime incident, shares plummeted 15% in premarket trading on July 19.

Meanwhile, rival cybersecurity firms saw their stock prices rise, likely due to investors anticipating that businesses might switch to competing services.

Kurtz’s updates aim to maintain customer trust and ensure transparency, highlighting the steps taken to resolve the issue and prevent future occurrences.


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Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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