CrowdStrike Chief Says Crashed Systems Almost Completely Fixed

It’s been a week since the faulty CrowdStrike update created global IT chaos, but the company’s boss said that almost all of its sensors are back online.

“I want to share that over 97% of Windows sensors are back online,” George Kurtz, CEO of the cybersecurity firm, said in a LinkedIn post on Thursday. Kurtz cited the “tireless efforts of our customers, partners, and the dedication of our team at CrowdStrike.”

Last week, a routine update contained a bug that caused Microsoft’s Windows operating system to crash, leading to thousands of crowded airlines and stalled crucial services. 

Microsoft estimated that 8.5 million devices had been affected, suggesting that about 250,000 machines remain offline, the BBC reported.

Kurtz acknowledged that the company’s work isn’t done. “To our customers still affected, please know we will not rest until we achieve full recovery,” he said.

Since the update debacle, CrowdStrike was also smacked with backlash over a $10 Uber Eats voucher it sent out as thanks to the company’s third-party sales and support agents who have been helping to get things back up and running. 

“To express our gratitude, your next cup of coffee or late night snack is on us!” CrowdStrike’s email to this group said, as reported by TechCrunch.

According to numerous reports, that did not sit well with some, especially people who posted on social media about getting a gift card, saying they got an error message when trying to redeem it.

A CrowdStrike spokesperson told CNBC that the voucher “was intended by an internal team as a token of appreciation to our external partners who were working tirelessly with our customers.” Uber then “flagged it as fraud because of high usage rates.”

Kurtz said in his post that he is “deeply sorry for the disruption this outage has caused and personally apologize to everyone impacted. While I can’t promise perfection, I can promise a response that is focused, effective, and with a sense of urgency.”