Cybersecurity expert warns of scams following global technology failure

A cybersecurity expert is warning you to be on your guard for scams and hacking attempts, in the wake of the worldwide tech outage.

The issue came down to a faulty update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike that was pushed to computers running Microsoft Windows. The ensuing outage created chaos around the globe, grounding thousands of flights, knocking banks and hospital systems offline, taking media outlets off the air, and affecting small businesses.

While the companies involved have said this was not the result of a security incident of cyberattack, David Ratner, the CEO of Vancouver-based cybersecurity company HYAS Infosec Inc., says there will always be bad actors looking to take advantage of the tech-related chaos.

“Very quickly shift their tactics to make use of that. So one of the fastest things that’s going to happen is people are going to start getting emails or other kinds of recommendations. ‘Hey, apply this patch to your machines to make sure this doesn’t happen again,'” he explained.

“Trying to prey on people who are rapidly trying to fix this as quickly as they can and maybe are not paying attention to the source or thinking as closely about what they’re doing.”

Ratner tells CityNews he doesn’t think the outage shows that global companies have become too reliant on one particular system or on technology as a whole. In fact, he says it shows they have a good product that businesses find useful in their day to day.

However, he says there will be lessons to take away from the outage.

“Fundamentally, how did they get designed to address the what-if scenarios to make sure that these kinds of situations can’t happen again,” he said.

“This is an unfortunate incident and a very significant one that I’m sure will drive significant changes in everything from how CrowdStrike releases software and updates, to how companies apply them and how they run their networks.”

CrowdStrike has apologized for the outage in an open letter shared by the company’s CEO.

“All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation,” said George Kurtz.

“The outage was caused by a defect found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This was not a cyberattack. We are working closely with impacted customers and partners to ensure that all systems are restored, so you can deliver the services your customers rely on.”