Claims for damages after Crowdstrike mishap probably groundbreaking
Published: Sunday, Jul 28th 2024, 11:20
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The claims for damages following the global IT failure of Crowdstrike around a week ago are likely to be groundbreaking. Matthias Stürmer, professor of digitalization at Bern University of Applied Sciences, believes this will be the case. For the Swiss air navigation service provider Skyguide, however, he sees no chance of a lawsuit.
In an interview with the "SonntagsZeitung" newspaper, Stürmer expressed his surprise that there were no major disruptions on July 19. The time difference had prevented worse in Europe. Many people had not yet worked in the early morning.
Regarding the cause of the glitch, the digitalization researcher explained that, strictly speaking, Crowdstrike had not carried out a software update. Rather, it was a faulty update of the detection patterns for cyber attacks.
Stürmer suspected to the newspaper that the company had not tested the update extensively, otherwise the error would have been noticed. This is a rookie mistake that is difficult to explain and may be due to economic interests. Companies are interested in cost-effective and efficient work.
Skyguide without a plan B
Skyguide air traffic control, which was severely affected by the IT breakdown, was poorly prepared, said Stürmer. A company has to consider to what extent it needs a plan B in the event of such severe disruptions. There were delays and flight cancellations at Zurich Airport a week ago on Friday.
According to the Bernese researcher, Crowdstrike must expect claims for damages. The question for Stürmer is what chances the lawsuits have. In its general terms and conditions, the company states that the cyber security software should not be used for critical applications. Air traffic control is explicitly mentioned.
Groundbreaking case
This put Skyguide in a predicament, said Stürmer. Air traffic control had to agree to the terms and conditions, otherwise it would not have been able to use the software.
Legally, the global crash will be a landmark case. There has never been a failure on this scale before; the damage is likely to run into billions of francs. Zurich Airport has already announced that it will take legal action.
Stürmer is a professor at Bern University of Applied Sciences and head of the Institute for Transformation in the Public Sector. He teaches and conducts research on the topic of digitalization. His focus is on the areas of public procurement, sustainability and open source.
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