The CrowdStrike Outage: What Medical Practices Can Learn to Prevent IT Crises

On July 19, 2024, a major IT disruption impacted millions of Windows devices, including those used in hospitals and medical practices. This caused significant disruptions: from canceled medical procedures to delayed patient care. Thankfully, it wasn’t a cyber-attack, but a software update gone wrong from CrowdStrike, a leading cybersecurity firm.

So, What Happened?

The massive outage stemmed from a faulty update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform, which led to a global system crash. This glitch caused an endless reboot loop on Windows devices, disrupting airline operations, banking services, and critically, electronic health record (EHR) systems. Hospitals faced severe delays in patient care as their systems went offline, highlighting the critical nature of IT reliability in healthcare.

If It Wasn’t A Cyber-Attack, What Caused It?

Contrary to fears of a cyber-attack, the outage was due to a botched software update from CrowdStrike. The company’s Falcon platform, which provides endpoint detection and response, included a flawed update for Windows OS. A defect in their content validation tool failed to catch the issue, leading to widespread system crashes when the update was deployed. Despite CrowdStrike’s prompt response to address the problem, the damage was already significant, with estimated costs reaching $5.4 billion for affected Fortune 500 companies.

Why Should This Matter to Medical Practices?

Expert IT Management: Even major firms like CrowdStrike can experience failures. Having a knowledgeable IT professional who manages your network can help prevent similar issues. An experienced IT team ensures that updates, backups, and security measures are handled correctly, keeping your practice running smoothly.

Thorough Software Testing: Reliable IT teams conduct rigorous software testing to avoid deploying flawed updates. They handle this for you, reducing the risk of a software-induced crisis.

Strong Disaster Recovery Plan: The outage demonstrated the need for a robust disaster recovery strategy. Practices that had no plan were forced to halt operations. Ensure your practice has a comprehensive plan in place to quickly recover from unforeseen IT issues.

Conclusion

Don’t wait for an IT crisis to catch you off guard. Ensure your medical practice is prepared by partnering with an experienced IT team. We offer a FREE, no-obligation Network Assessment to evaluate your current systems, identify vulnerabilities, and develop a comprehensive plan to protect your practice from future outages.

Call us at 702-879-7111 or click here to book your FREE Network Assessment today!