Delta Sues Microsoft and CrowdStrike Over IT Outage, CEO Ed Bastian Seeks $500 Million

Aug 5, 2024, 03:35 PM

Delta Air Lines has initiated legal action against Microsoft and CrowdStrike following a widespread IT outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike update, which left passengers stranded and disrupted the airline's operations. Delta has hired attorney David Boies to seek $500 million in damages, citing significant financial losses and operational disruptions. Delta CEO Ed Bastian highlighted the severe impact, mentioning that 40,000 servers needed physical resets. CrowdStrike, which reported nearly 24K enterprise customers in Q1, has denied responsibility, stating that Delta's accusations are misleading and that offers of assistance were ignored. The cybersecurity firm has engaged Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan for its defense. The outage, which affected millions of computers globally, has led to a contentious legal battle between the companies.