The CEO of $CrowdStrike (CRWD.US)$, George Kurtz, has been called upon by a U.S. congressional panel to testify regarding the recent worldwide tech outage. The panel has requested Kurtz to appear before the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection.
What Happened: The U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee has formally asked Kurtz to testify on the global tech outage that occurred last week, Reuters reported.
The outage was a result of a faulty update to CrowdStrike's security software, which affected millions of devices running on $Microsoft (MSFT.US)$ Windows operating system.
The incident caused widespread disruptions across various industries, including aviation, finance, and healthcare. Although services were gradually restored, the episode raised concerns about the concentration of critical software in the hands of a few companies and the potential for future incidents.
The congressional panel, in its letter to Kurtz, acknowledged CrowdStrike's response and coordination with stakeholders but emphasized the gravity of the situation, which some have labeled as the most significant IT outage in history. The panel has asked Kurtz to schedule a hearing with the subcommittee by Wednesday.
"CrowdStrike is actively in contact with relevant Congressional Committees. Briefings and other engagement timelines may be disclosed at members' discretion," a company spokesperson said.
Why It Matters: The recent global outage has had significant repercussions for CrowdStrike . Shares of the company fell sharply, dropping over 11% on Friday and continuing to decline on Monday. Analysts from Guggenheim and BTIG downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral, reflecting concerns over the company's handling of the incident.
Experts predict that the financial impact of the outage could exceed $1 billion, with potential demands for compensation and legal actions looming. Dan Ives, a tech analyst for Wedbush Securities, noted that CrowdStrike's legal team might face a challenging summer as they navigate the fallout.
Despite the negative impact, some analysts, including Jim Cramer, have praised CrowdStrike's response to the crisis. CEO George Kurtz promptly acknowledged the issue, attributing it to a defect in a single content update and clarifying that it was not a security breach or cyberattack.
The outage has also raised concerns about CrowdStrike's pricing and renewal strategies. The company's stock faced further downgrades amid worries about its ability to retain customers and maintain competitive pricing following the disruption.
Price Action: Crowdstrike stock closed at $263.91 on Monday, down 13.46%. In after-hours trading, the stock dipped further 0.34%. Over the past five days, the stock has dropped by 30.23%. However, year to date, Crowdstrike has gained 6.89%, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote
公司的首席執行官 $CrowdStrike (CRWD.US)$美國國會小組委員會已要求Crowdstrike公司首席執行官George Kurtz在網絡安全和基礎設施保護小組委員會面前作證，就最近充斥全球的技術故障進行證言。
事件過程：據路透社報道，美國衆議院國土安全委員會正式邀請Kurtz作證，就上週發生的全球技術故障作證。
這次網絡故障是由CrowdStrike公司的安全軟件錯誤更新引起的，影響了運行在Windows操作系統上的數百萬設備。$微軟 (MSFT.US)$事件造成了各行各業，包括航空、金融和醫療保健在內的廣泛中斷。雖然服務已逐漸恢復，但本次事件引發了關於少數幾家公司掌握關鍵軟件以及潛在未來事故的擔憂。
國會小組委員會在致Kurtz的信中，承認了CrowdStrike公司的響應和協調工作，但強調了局勢的嚴峻性，有人稱其爲歷史上最重要的IT故障之一。該小組委員會要求Kurtz在週三之前安排一個與小組委員會的聽證會。
“CrowdStrike正在積極與相關的國會委員會進行聯繫。英國特別行動小組（Briefings）和其他接觸時間可能會由各成員自行決定，”該公司的一位發言人表示。
事件的意義：最近的全球故障對於CrowdStrike公司產生了巨大的後果。該公司的股票大幅下跌，週五下跌了超過11％，週一仍在下滑。來自古根海姆和BTIG的分析師將該股票的評級從買入下調至中立，反映了他們對公司處理事件的關注。
專家預計本次事件的財務影響可能超過1億美元，可能會出現要求賠償和法律訴訟等問題。 Wedbush Securities的技術分析師Dan Ives指出，CrowdStrike的法律團隊可能會在應對事件的後果上遇到嚴峻的夏季。
儘管產生了負面影響，但包括吉姆·克拉默在內的一些分析師對CrowdStrike公司的危機響應表示讚揚。CEO George Kurtz迅速承認了問題，並將其歸因於單個內容更新中的缺陷，並澄清這不是安全漏洞或網絡攻擊。
這次事件還引發了有關CrowdStrike公司定價和續費策略的擔憂。該公司的股票在此次故障後遭受了進一步的下調，人們擔心其在保留客戶和保持有競爭力的價格方面的能力。
價格走勢：Crowdstrike公司的股票週一收報263.91美元，下跌13.46％。在盤後交易中，股票進一步下跌0.34％。根據Benzinga Pro的數據，過去五天裏該股下跌了30.23％。但是，年初至今，Crowdstrike公司的股價已上漲6.89％。
價格走勢：Crowdstrike股票週一收盤價爲263.91美元，下跌13.46%。盤後交易中，該股票進一步下跌0.34%。過去五天，該股票已下跌30.23%。然而，根據來自Benzinga Pro的數據，Crowdstrike今年以來已經上漲了6.89%。
這個故事是使用Benzinga Neuro生成的，並由Kaustubh Bagalkote編輯
