The cyber-security firm CrowdStrike has raised the stakes in response to the threat of legal action by Delta Air Lines over the global systems outage that left swathes of businesses unable to function.
Lawyer Michael Carlinsky, who represents CrowdStrike, wrote on August 4, 2024, that he was responding to Delta’s threats of legal action and hoped the airline would reconsider its approach moving forward.
Carlinsky said CrowdStrike is “highly disappointed” of suggestions the firm “acted inappropriately” and rejects the notion it was “grossly negligent” or committed “willful misconduct”.
On July 31, 2024, the CEO of Delta, Ed Bastian, claimed that the system outage last month cost the carrier $500 million, and he had “no option” other than to pursue a lawsuit against CrowdStrike.
In CrowdStrike’s response the company said that its CEO “personally reached out” to Bastian to offer onsite assistance in the wake of the outage but received no response and was told by Delta that it did not need help.
CrowdStrike said that Delta’s threat of litigation has “contributed to a misleading narrative” that it is responsible for the carrier’s “IT decisions and response to the outage”.
Delta appeared to suffer more than other airlines in the United States (US) following the outage and was subsequently forced to cancel over 5,000 flights.
According to media reports, Delta’s systems that designate flight crews to aircraft could not keep up with the changes and caused additional problems for the airline.
“Should Delta pursue this path, Delta will have to explain to the public, its shareholders, and ultimately a jury why CrowdStrike took responsibility for its actions – swiftly, transparently, and constructively – while Delta did not,” Carlinsky wrote in letter to the airline’s lawyer David Boies.
CrowdStrike added that if Delta pursued this path, it would ultimately have to explain why its rivals “facing similar challenges, all restored operations much faster” and why help offered was turned down.
The cyber-security firm added that its liability is “contractually capped at an amount in the single-digit millions”.