Watch: CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz chokes while talking about what caused global IT outage
It has been more than 24 hours since a faulty software update caused a global IT outage affecting airlines, hospitals, governments, banks, and more. In the eye of the storm is CrowdStrike, a US-based cybersecurity company primarily used by large organizations, government agencies, and critical sectors like airports and banks.
In the eye of the storm
As the world reacted in disbelief, CrowdStrike founder and CEO George Kurtz tried damage control, initially by playing it down and later apologizing to customers and everyone who had been affected.
Also read:?Under fire for casual response to global Windows outage, CrowdStrike CEO apologises
The magnitude of the crisis seems to have disturbed Kurtz, who was seen struggling to explain the situation in a TV interview.
Kurtz chokes while answering?
Kurtz appeared on NBC¡¯s Today TV show hours after the outage and looked visibly nervous and even choked while answering.
Kurtz, who started by apologizing to anyone who has been affected by the IT outage, struggled for words when asked how a single content update managed to shut down air travel, credit card payment systems, banks, broadcasts, street lights, and 911 emergency services around the globe.
Also read:?'Ex-CrowdStrike employee' hilariously takes credit for Microsoft outage
Kurtz began by talking about cybersecurity but choked immediately and had to sip water twice before he regained his composure.
The video of the interview has now gone viral on social media.
Criticised for his initial response?
Earlier, on Friday, Kurtz had come under heavy criticism online after his initial statement on the IT outage did not include an apology for causing the unprecedented disruption.
While some on social media sympathized with Kurtz, who said that his team had identified the issue and were working on a fix, stating that he didn't deserve the hate coming his way, others said that he should be held accountable.
Similar episode with McAfee
Some also pointed out that Kurtz was the CTO of McAfee when in 2010 they sent out an update that bricked tens of thousands of computers because it falsely identified a system program as malicious.
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