The recent Crowdstrike Windows Updates outage offers crucial takeaways for enhancing our preparedness against similar incidents. Although not caused by ransomware or a cyberattack, the impact mirrored such events with significant downtime, lost productivity, and revenue.
Incident Recap
Crowdstrike, a leader in the endpoint detection and response (EDR) sector, experienced a major issue on July 19. A faulty update led to the infamous “blue screen of death” (BSoD) on Windows PCs and Servers, rendering them inoperable.
When a device encounters a BSoD, it cannot start or connect to the internet, essentially becoming “bricked.” Resolving this issue necessitates a technician or system administrator physically accessing the machine. This is especially challenging in a remote work environment, requiring either the device to be brought to the office or a technician to visit.
Tackling BitLocker Encryption
The next hurdle involves BitLocker encryption, which secures data on most Windows devices. To fix the machine, the technician must bypass this encryption, which is protected by a complex key. Locating this key involves identifying the computer’s name and model and retrieving it from a secure database, either the Active Directory Domain Controller or Microsoft 365 Azure Entra ID. If the company’s server is also affected, recovery takes even longer.
Once past the encryption, thec technician can use a USB recovery toolkit or boot in safe mode to edit the registry and restart the device.
TIP: Make sure your BitLocker is stored and accessible in a secure location where you can access it in an emergency.
Planning and Preparation
This incident underscores the necessity of planning and preparation. Small businesses, in particular, face additional challenges with remote and geographically dispersed staff. Yet, every business must recognize the critical need for robust incident response plans. Technology dependency is universal, and so are the associated risks, which are continually evolving.
Microsoft estimated that 8.5 million Windows machines were affected by this outage, potentially costing billions globally and taking weeks to fully resolve.
Take Action
This event is a stark reminder to develop, implement, and regularly test an incident response plan. It’s not a matter of if but when the next technical outage will occur, whether due to human error, disgruntled employees, or cyberattacks. While there is one size fit all to each company situation, if you are a small busines with employeess and customers, consider the following action you do today:
- Rollout software updates in stages – test the updates on a select number of devices before putting them on the entire company. Work with your IT team to do this.
- Ensure your data, local files and cloud applications, are backed up regularly and test the backup.
- Confirm your Bitlocker encryption nkeys are backed up for your Windows Computers and accessible by the authorized individual or IT team.
- Plan regular table top execise for these security incidents with your team and what to do in these events.
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Dedicated to keeping your IT systems running and secure (KISS).
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