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November 4, 2024 at 10:06AM
In July, a major tech outage caused $5.4 billion in damages, prompting a critical reevaluation of automatic updates and the C-I-A triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability). The CrowdStrike incident emphasizes the need for better vendor transparency, rigorous testing, and a balanced focus to enhance cybersecurity resilience and trust.
### Meeting Takeaways
**1. Technology Outages and Cost Awareness:**
– In July, a significant technology outage was linked to a CrowdStrike update, resulting in an estimated $5.4 billion in damages.
– The incident highlights the need for a critical evaluation of the costs associated with prioritizing rapid innovation and deployment in cybersecurity.
**2. The C-I-A Triad:**
– The current emphasis on Confidentiality (C) has come at the expense of Integrity (I) and Availability (A), causing significant lapses in the overall cybersecurity framework.
– There is a call for the industry to rebalance the C-I-A triad, recognizing the importance of all three pillars.
**3. Necessity for Transparency:**
– Vendors should adopt more transparent practices regarding updates, enabling customers to control when and how updates are implemented.
– The CrowdStrike incident was exacerbated by a complex update process that left customers with little understanding or control over the updates.
**4. Reevaluation of Vendor Updates:**
– Security teams must take a more measured approach to automatic updates, emphasizing thorough testing and validation processes.
– The flexibility for organizations to choose when to apply updates can prevent disruptions and maintain system integrity and availability.
**5. Improvement of Testing Environments:**
– Organizations must ensure robust testing environments for certifying security updates, treating cybersecurity with the same diligence as IT and development processes.
– The failure of critical infrastructure due to security lapses necessitates a reassessment of the security ecosystem’s resilience.
**6. Evolving Security Practices:**
– The industry should embrace established change management practices while continually adapting to new technologies and threats.
– Vendors and security teams are urged to shift their priorities towards balancing the drivers of security, integrity, and availability to foster a more durable cybersecurity future.
### Conclusion:
The CrowdStrike incident serves as a pivotal reminder to vendors and customers alike to recalibrate their approach to cybersecurity, ensuring all aspects of the C-I-A triad are addressed to prevent future failures and maintain trust in security systems.