Anika Begay
CrowdStrike is pushing back against Delta Air Lines’ claims that the cybersecurity firm is responsible for days-long disruptions to flights following last month’s catastrophic system outage, saying the airline has rejected repeated offers to help restore affected systems.
CrowdStrike reiterated its apology to Delta in a letter responding to public comments about the airline filing lawsuits, but said it “strongly rejects any allegation that it was grossly negligent or engaged in willful misconduct.” CrowdStrike says the threat of litigation “contributed to a misleading narrative that CrowdStrike is responsible for Delta’s IT decisions and response to the disruption,” noting that competing airlines restored operations much more quickly.
“CrowdStrike’s CEO personally reached out to Delta’s CEO to offer on-site support, but received no response,” CrowdStrike attorney Michael Carlinsky said in the letter. Carlinsky said CrowdStrike had made several other attempts to provide assistance, including an offer of on-site support, but was told the resources for that were not needed.
“If Delta goes down this path, Delta will have to explain to the public, its shareholders, and ultimately a jury why CrowdStrike took responsibility for its actions, quickly, transparently, and constructively, while Delta did not,” Carlinsky said. The letter also notes that CrowdStrike’s contractual liability is limited “in the single-digit millions” and that the company will “respond aggressively” to litigation “if forced to do so.” We have reached out to Delta for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
