Just months after a CrowdStrike update rendered millions of servers unusable, bringing some industries to a temporary but costly halt, Delta Air Lines has filed a lawsuit against the cybersecurity company to recoup some of its losses.
The lawsuit, filed in a Georgia court, asks CrowdStrike to pay out more than $500 million in losses, along with legal costs and damages.
After canceling about 7,000 flights, Delta claims it has lost $380 million in revenue and incurred another $170 million in other costs, which it is now seeking to cover through legal action.
Delta takes CrowdStrike to court
“CrowdStrike caused a global catastrophe as it cut corners, took shortcuts, and circumvented the testing and certification processes it advertised for its own benefit and profit,” a Delta announcement said.
News of the lawsuit comes after the company appointed David Boies, a major lawyer with experience in some high-profile cases, to seek damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft.
Speak with CNBCDelta CEO Ed Bastian said: “As far as I am concerned, the havoc that has been caused deserves to be fully compensated.”
Following the incident, Delta quickly offered customers financial support through refunds and refunds. The company acknowledged that CrowdStrike was responsible for the outage, but offered little further explanation to customers.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz publicly apologized after the outage and promised to improve the company’s update protocols.
A CrowdStrike spokesperson responded to the matter (via CNBC): “Delta’s claims are based on debunked disinformation, demonstrate a lack of understanding of how modern cybersecurity works, and reflect a desperate attempt to shift blame for the slow recovery to its inability to modernize aging IT infrastructure .”
It’s unclear how the case will play out, but since CrowdStrike’s unreliable update is the cause of the problem, it’s likely that this will determine the judge’s decision.