The German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) and the digital association Bitkom have initiated a study to determine the extent of the damage caused by the crowdstrike incident in mid-July. While initial estimates of the losses and economic consequences are available, precise figures are still lacking. The online survey will run until 21 August.
Faulty update causes system crashes
On 19 July 2024, a faulty update of an IT security solution from the manufacturer Crowdstrike led to system crashes on an estimated 8.5 million Windows devices worldwide. This incident caused significant disruption in various sectors of the economy. According to initial estimates, insurance losses totalling 1.5 billion dollars were reported. Individual consequences and the damage to the German economy are currently difficult to estimate due to a lack of objective data.
The digital association Bitkom and the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) have therefore initiated a study to help assess the extent of the damage caused by the system failures. The survey can be completed online and is aimed at all companies in Germany that were affected by the system failures on 19 July - either directly or indirectly, for example through disrupted supply chains or disruption to business partners. Questions include the type and extent of the disruptions (computer or server failures, system crashes, unavailability of data or network problems), their immediate consequences (e.g. temporary suspension of business operations), the cost of restoring IT operations and the estimated financial loss.
Bitkom President Dr Ralf Wintergerst: "Although we rarely experience an IT outage of this magnitude, it clearly shows that our economy needs to become more resilient. Companies need contingency plans, must set up redundant systems and create regular backups. With this study, we want to find out how the German economy is positioned and how serious the impact of IT system failures as a result of the Crowdstrike update is. We would like to encourage all companies to take part in the BSI and Bitkom survey."
BSI President Claudia Plattner: "Every participation helps us to assess the consequences of the outage and develop measures to prevent similar incidents. To this end, we are in close dialogue with the software companies Crowdstrike and Microsoft. The BSI will also hold talks with other software manufacturers and develop the measures accordingly. Among other things, the aim is to design and implement new and resilient components that offer the same functionality and protection as before, but require less far-reaching intervention rights in the operating systems. This should minimise the impact of any software errors."
Survey runs from 7 to 21 August
The study is being conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of the BSI and the digital association Bitkom. The survey is aimed at companies in Germany and will take place from 7 to 21 August. Participation in the survey is anonymous and takes around ten minutes. Interested parties can leave their e-mail address to receive the results once the analysis has been completed.
Click here for the survey.
