Congress sets first hearing on CrowdStrike outage
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A House Homeland Security subcommittee said Friday it will hold the first congressional hearing on the global CrowdStrike outage later this month.
Why it matters: The hearing will be a bellwether for how much trust CrowdStrike has lost both in Washington and among its own customers.
State of play: Adam Meyers, senior vice president of counter adversary operations at CrowdStrike, will testify before the House Homeland Security cybersecurity subcommittee Sept. 24.
- "While we can be thankful that this wasn't a cyberattack, this incident demonstrates the urgency of promoting cyber hygiene and resiliency amid increased threats," Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chair of the committee, said in a statement.
- CrowdStrike spokesperson Kevin Benacci said that the company is continuing to "actively and collaboratively work with relevant Congressional committees" and that other congressional work, such as briefings, "may be disclosed at members' discretion."
Catch up quick: Lawmakers originally called on CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify following the outage, which affected roughly 8.5 million Windows devices.
- Kurtz said during an earnings call last week that customers are scrutinizing deals with the company more closely following the outage, which was caused by a faulty security update.
Between the lines: CrowdStrike had built a lot of goodwill on Capitol Hill and throughout Washington over the years — and the upcoming hearing will be the first indicator of how well that goodwill has worked.
- So far, it seems the hearing will focus more on how CrowdStrike's outage was a wake-up call for supply chain security overall.
