The recent CrowdStrike outage is still fresh in everyone’s minds, as many of us faced the blue screen of death. This disruption affected offices, businesses, and even flights. And CrowdStrike had to bear the brunt of it.
Just weeks after this major software update triggered the worldwide IT disaster, CrowdStrike is stepping back into the spotlight in an unexpected way. The cybersecurity company’s president, Michael Sentonas, took the stage at the Pwnie Awards to accept the award for “Most Epic Fail.” This award, presented at Def Con shortly after the Black Hat conference, recognised the company’s recent technical missteps.
Also read: Cybersecurity platform Crowdstrike down worldwide, many users logged out of systems
Despite the mishap, CrowdStrike seemed to embrace the situation with a sense of humour and humility. At the Black Hat conference, the company had a prominent booth giving out free T-shirts and action figures. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company’s message to attendees was one of “gratitude and appreciation for the Black Hat community.”
The footage, shared online, of Sentonas’ acceptance speech shows a mix of enthusiasm and support from the audience. The Pwnie Awards organisers explained that the decision to award CrowdStrike was a last-minute change. The award was presented with a comically large trophy, which elicited loud cheers from the crowd.
Also read: CrowdStrike update: What is Blue Screen of Death? The issue affecting all Windows machines
Sentonas admitted, “This is definitely not the award to be proud of receiving.” He acknowledged the company’s error, stating, “I think the team was surprised when I said straightaway that I would get it.” “Because we got this horribly wrong, we’ve said this a number of different times, and it’s super important to own it when you do things well, it’s super important to own it when you do things horribly wrong.”
Sentonas also revealed plans to display the trophy at CrowdStrike’s headquarters as a constant reminder of the company’s mission to protect its users. “Our goal is to protect people, and we got this wrong, and I want to make sure everybody understands these things can’t happen,” he said.
This bold acceptance underscores CrowdStrike’s commitment to accountability and its determination to learn from its mistakes.
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