CrowdStrike’s Epic Fail: A $15 Billion Oopsie and a Side of Uber Eats

CrowdStrike, a leading cybersecurity firm, has issued an apology to its partners after a botched software update crippled Windows computers worldwide, bringing businesses to a standstill last week.

In a gesture of goodwill, the company sent a $10 Uber Eats gift card to its partners and team members who worked tirelessly to mitigate the damage and support affected customers.

The financial fallout from the outage is substantial, with U.S. Fortune 500 companies, excluding Microsoft, facing estimated losses of over $5 billion, according to insurer Parametrix. The global economic impact could be as high as $15 billion.

In a LinkedIn post on Monday, CrowdStrike’s Chief Security Officer, Shawn Henry, expressed his remorse. “We fell short of our promise on Friday, and I’m truly sorry,” he wrote. “The past 48 hours have been an incredibly tough period, but our disappointment pales in comparison to the hardship we’ve inflicted on our customers and partners. We failed to uphold our commitment to protect those who trust us, and we’re deeply distraught.”