Maybe, but I would expect any court case to find that a large share of the blame resides with DAL for just allowing those updates to be mass deployed to the production system with no checking. It is possible they had a special contract with CRWD guaranteeing five 9's availability, extra QA of updates, etc. But I doubt it. They probably had purchased under a standard EULA of "we guarantee nothing. You indemnify us. Etc. etc." Of course the civil litigation system in the US has been a clown show ever sing the Alex Jones and Trump verdicts. Apparently you can cause no real measurable damage and be liable for 9 figure damages if they don't like you.
And that's the unfortunate reality. I just mentioned DAL as one example, there's probably 100's and 100's out there. Not to mention perhaps the folks that died for lack of 911 services. And the class-action suits against the company itself by those law firms that attack any time a stock drops, that list will of law firms will be 10 pages long. This thing is gonna be feeding frenzy for the lawyers.
Delta hires law firm seeking damages from CrowdStrike, Microsoft after massive tech outage: report Provided by Dow Jones Jul 30, 2024 12:06am By Bill Peters Some analysts have said the outage could cost Delta $350 million Following a sprawling technological outage this month that forced the cancellation of thousands of flights, Delta Air Lines Inc. is lawyering up to seek compensation from the two companies at the heart of the disruption - cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. and Microsoft Corp, according to a report from CNBC. CNBC reported Monday that Delta had hired the veteran lawyer David Boies, of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner, to pursue those claims. But the outlet said no suit had been filed yet. Delta (DAL) and Microsoft (MSFT) did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did Boies Schiller Flexner. A CrowdStrike (CRWD) spokesperson, when reached, said: "We are aware of the reporting, but have no knowledge of a lawsuit and have no further comment." The outage - triggered by a faulty CrowdStrike software update that caused a widespread blackout for many people using Microsoft computers across the U.S. and elsewhere - hit Delta particularly hard. Some analysts have said the disruption could cost the air carrier $350 million. Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation opened an investigation into Delta "to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a post on X. Shares of Delta closed 2.2% lower on Monday. -Bill Peters