CrowdStrike Market Analysis: Elon Musk Blames Firm for Global IT Outage

Elon Musk Blames Crowdstrike for Global IT Outage

Elon Musk wasted no time in finding a convenient scapegoat for the global IT outage caused by a botched software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike . Not very bright right now , is it ? Musk wrote on X , formerly Twitter , Friday morning in reply to a more than two years old post from CrowdStrike . In that post , the Austin , Texas - based firm said it was proud to be a Gold Partner of recruiting company Bright Networks panel on diversity , equity , and inclusion ( DEI).

Its an on - brand pivot for the Tesla CEO , who has made diversity initiatives a frequent target for his criticism . Tesla dropped language referencing diversity from its annual shareholder report just weeks after Musk tweeted that DEI is just another word for racism . The billionaire has also been criticized for claiming that Boeings issues with the 737 Max 9 were caused by hiring too many non - white pilots and factory workers.

CrowdStrike Responds to Global Tech Outage

On Friday morning , businesses across the world including banks , airlines , retailers , and hospitals began reporting that their systems were down . CrowdStrike , which provides cybersecurity services to more than half of Fortune 500 companies , said a defect in an update for Microsofts Windows operating system was the cause . CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts , CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz wrote on X Friday morning . This is not a security incident or cyberattack.

Kurtz later told the Today Show that CrowdStrike is deeply sorry to anyone impacted by the issues , including customers and travelers . A fix for the issues has been deployed and the firm is working with customers to ensure systems come back online.

Musk Takes Action Against CrowdStrike

On Friday , Musk wrote on X , which he owns , that we just deleted CrowdStrike from all our systems , so no rollouts at all , in reply to another user commenting on the incidents . Its unclear which of his businesses Musk is referring to . In addition to Tesla and X , Musk leads aerospace firm SpaceX , tunneling and construction company The Boring Co. , brain chip implant startup Neuralink , and artificial intelligence startup xAI.