ATLANTA – CrowdStrike, a cyber-security firm, told customers the cause was a “defect found in a single content update” of their software running on Microsoft Windows operating systems, according to an X post by CEO George Kurtz. The outage had ripple effects worldwide, and it knocked media offline, grounded flights, as well as disrupted hospitals, banks, government offices, small businesses, and personal devices.
Oliver’s running mate Mike ter Maat – who served in the White House as an economist – saw this as a clear sign that out-of-touch politicians and the bogged-down bureaucracy respond poorly to problems.
“What should have been a routine update from CrowdStrike has demonstrated the vulnerability of our globally interconnected economic systems to thousands of pain points,” ter Maat said.
“This is why we need a modernized approach from the Defense Department, relying heavily on corporate partnerships, and ending the simplistic 20th-century attitude that the projection of physical power abroad for the sake of maintaining military hegemony will make us safe. It will not because it cannot, and politicians who are sleepwalking through Friday’s episode are dinosaurs.”
Oliver agreed that the outage revealed the fragility of otherwise powerful IT systems that facilitate our everyday lives, and that we must take cyber security seriously. Not just in government networks, but in private networks as well.
“While we spend trillions to fight wars overseas, dropping bombs, launching drones, and selling arms to autocrats, we have real vulnerability and pain points across our transportation and supply-chain infrastructure,” Oliver said.
“If elected, I would look to experts to help minimize these points of vulnerability within our government and urge private firms like airlines to do the same. We can provide recommendations, not mandates, on how to proceed. This is a better method than having bureaucrats create a mountain of red tape.”
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