Tech Desk
Aug 05, 2024
On Sunday, CrowdStrike rejected a claim brought up by Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian that the cybersecurity firm was responsible for its flight disruptions that lasted for six days and affected 500,000 passengers.
Delta says that it holds CrowdStrike responsible for the $500 million loss it’s suffered and intends to pursue a compensation case.
CrowdStrike reiterated its apology to the airline operator, but said in a letter that it is "highly disappointed by Delta's suggestion that CrowdStrike acted inappropriately and strongly rejects any allegation that it was grossly negligent or committed misconduct."
Delta cancelled over 6,000 flights during the six days, and its late recovery even prompted the US Department of Transportation to launch an investigation.
The CrowdStrike letter stated that "any liability by CrowdStrike is contractually capped at an amount in the single-digit millions."
Within hours of the outage, CrowdStrike reached out to Delta offering assistance.
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"Additionally, CrowdStrike’s CEO personally reached out to Delta’s CEO to offer onsite assistance, but received no response," the letter added.
Delta told U.S. lawmakers last week in a letter seen by Reuters that CrowdStrike’s faulty update "impacted more than half of Delta computers, including many of Delta’s workstations at every airport in the Delta network.
Delta's complex IT system which distributes and synchronizes all our data, including the data that feeds our crew tracking and gating software, required manual recovery."
The CrowdStrike letter added that if Delta files suit, it will need to explain "why Delta’s competitors, facing similar challenges, all restored operations much faster" and "why Delta turned down free onsite help from CrowdStrike professionals who assisted many other customers to restore operations much more quickly than Delta."
A CrowdStrike spokesperson said "public posturing about potentially bringing a meritless lawsuit against CrowdStrike as a long-time partner is not constructive to any party. We hope that Delta will agree to work cooperatively to find a resolution."
