The true cause of the CrowdStrike outage remains unknown. Whether hacked or not, this event highlights the need for enhanced software security.
In a remarkable turn of events, the world experienced a massive IT outage involving Microsoft and CrowdStrike that caused disruptions across the globe. From PCs to mainframes, individuals and organizations of every size – including airports, banks, and hospitals – were confronted with the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death.”
This IT catastrophe was just the latest in a series of significant and mysterious outages over the past year; a combination of events that have raised widespread concern about the security of critical infrastructure and potential vulnerabilities in the Global Software Supply Chain.
One of the most pressing questions arising from this incident is whether CrowdStrike was hacked. As one of the leading cybersecurity companies, CrowdStrike now finds itself at the center of an inquisition that no one expected.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz contends “The outage was caused by a defect found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts” – and not due to a cyberattack that corrupted their software. We are, however, reminded that the massive SolarWinds software supply chain attack began when hackers inserted malware into an update to their Orion product.
While an official investigation will (hopefully) determine what happened, if it was a targeted cyberattack, the implications are profound. If CrowdStrke couldn’t keep itself safe from what has already become the most significant supply chain attack in history…
Whether this worldwide mess was caused by hackers, saboteurs, or carelessness, the need for enhanced security measures becomes clear: The software safeguards that companies have traditionally relied on are clearly insufficient.
Even if this was not a cyber attack, this incident also makes it clear why anyone who develops software should be using CodeLock.
CodeLock provides a forensic chain of custody for every line of code, delivering unparalleled traceability and data integrity. The CodeLock platform gives companies advanced tracking and nonrepudiation capabilities that provide unparalleled protection frictionlessly and invisibly while introducing near-zero latency. With CodeLock, every change in the software development lifecycle is securely documented to prevent insider threats and unauthorized alterations by outsiders.
If this incident was, indeed, caused by a hack as many suspect, with CodeLock in place the outcome of the CrowdStrike attack would have been vastly different. The platform’s forensic chain of custody would have provided an immutable audit trail, quickly identifying and isolating the breach.
While we, along with the rest of the world, will wait for the official investigation's findings to see what really happened, this catastrophic incident has made clear that the stakes of the next global software supply chain attack may be even more crippling.
It’s no longer a matter of “if” but “when.” Inevitably, there will be another attack, which may prove to be even more devastating. CodeLock stands ready to help fortify your defenses, increase accountability, and significantly decrease your burden in meeting ever-increasing compliance requirements.
