CrowdStrike has hit back at Delta Air Lines’ threat of litigation against the cyber security company over a botched software update that grounded thousands of flights, denying it was responsible for the carrier’s own IT decisions and days-long disruption.
In a letter on Sunday, lawyers for CrowdStrike argued that the US carrier had created a “misleading narrative” that the cyber security firm was “grossly negligent” in an incident that the US airline has said will cost it $500 million.
Delta took days longer than its rivals to recover when CrowdStrike’s update brought down millions of Windows computers around the world last month. The airline has alerted the cyber security company that it plans to seek damages for the disruptions and hired litigation firm Boies Schiller Flexner.
CrowdStrike addressed Sunday’s letter to the law firm, whose chair David Boies has previously represented the US government in its antitrust case against Microsoft and Harvey Weinstein, among other prominent clients.
Microsoft has estimated that about 8.5 million Windows devices were hit by the faulty update, which stranded airline passengers, interrupted hospital appointments and took broadcasters off air around the world. CrowdStrike said last week that 99 percent of Windows devices running the affected Falcon software were now back online.
Major US airlines Delta, United and American briefly grounded their aircraft on the morning of July 19. But while United and American were able to restore their operations over the weekend, Delta’s flight disruptions continued well into the following week.
The Atlanta-based carrier in the end canceled more than 6,000 flights, triggering an investigation from the US Department of Transportation amid claims of poor customer service during the operational chaos.
CrowdStrike’s lawyer Michael Carlinsky, co-managing partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, wrote that, if it pursues legal action, Delta Air Lines would have to explain why its competitors were able to restore their operations much faster.
He added: “Should Delta pursue this path, Delta will have to explain to the public, its shareholders, and ultimately a jury why CrowdStrike took responsibility for its actions — swiftly, transparently and constructively — while Delta did not.”
CrowdStrike also claimed that Delta’s leadership had ignored and rejected offers for help: “CrowdStrike’s CEO personally reached out to Delta’s CEO to offer onsite assistance, but received no response. CrowdStrike followed up with Delta on the offer for onsite support and was told that the onsite resources were not needed.”
Delta chief executive Ed Bastian said last week that CrowdStrike had not “offered anything” to make up for the disruption at the airline. “Free consulting advice to help us — that’s the extent of it,” he told CNBC on Wednesday.
While Bastian has said that the disruption would cost Delta $500 million, CrowdStrike insisted that “any liability by CrowdStrike is contractually capped at an amount in the single-digit millions.”
A spokesperson for CrowdStrike accused Delta of “public posturing about potentially bringing a meritless lawsuit against CrowdStrike” and said it hoped the airline would “agree to work cooperatively to find a resolution.”
Delta Air Lines declined to comment.
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