On July 19, 2024, passengers were waiting at T3 IGI Airport in New Delhi, India, when a major disruption occurred in Microsoft's cloud service, resulting in large-scale flight cancellations and delays.
Vipin Kumar | Hindustan Times | Getty Images
Republican representatives called on Monday mass strike Chief Executive George Kurtz will testify before the House Homeland Security Committee days after the company released a flawed software update that crashed millions of users. Microsoft Windows device.
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Andrew Garbarino (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, said the incident was part of a broader 'Warning' on National Security Risks Associated with Internet Dependence,” a letter on Monday.
Lawmakers said the blackout caused disruption to “critical functions” of the global economy, including banking, aviation, healthcare, emergency services and media. Thousands of flights across the United States were delayed and canceled, and many health systems across the country had to reschedule appointments and non-urgent procedures.
CrowdStrike shares closed down more than 13% on Monday.
“Recognizing that Americans will undoubtedly feel the lasting real-world impacts of this incident, they should learn more about how this incident occurred and the mitigation efforts CrowdStrike is taking,” Green and Garbarino wrote.
Kurtz said on Friday that the outage was not a cyberattack or security incident and that CrowdStrike deployed a fix that day. Even so, lawmakers said the country needed to learn from Friday's devastation and ensure “it doesn't happen again.”
Green and Garbarino asked CrowdStrike to hold a hearing with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee no later than Wednesday.
CrowdStrike and Microsoft did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.