CrowdStrike: Company at center of global IT outage

By Nuran Erkul Kaya, Emre Gurkan Abay and Ata Ufuk Seker

LONDON (AA) – US-based cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused a software problem worldwide on Friday, though the company is known for its previous involvement in detecting cyberattacks on the US and criticizing Microsoft’s security policies.

Headquartered in Texas, CrowdStrike had disagreements with Microsoft, calling the tech conglomerate’s security culture “inadequate,” requiring “an overhaul.”

Earlier this year, CrowdStrike’s CEO George Kurtz had claimed that the Chinese intelligence stole Microsoft security keys to infiltrate the US Department of State and the Department of Commerce, which Kurtz said was not reported to company investors.

Additionally, the firm was involved in the analysis and the removal of hacks from the 2016 cyberattack on US government agencies, known as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) cyberattacks, perpetrated by Russian hacker groups.

CrowdStrike aims to protect companies against data breaches, cyberattacks, and ransomware by employing what they call the world’s most advanced cloud platform, the CrowdStrike Falcon.

The cybersecurity firm has a market capitalization of $85.3 billion, with 8,500 employees within the firm, and of the shares of CrowdStrike, investment firms Blackrock and Vanguard hold 6.99% and 6.96%, respectively.

- CrowdStrike comes to fore amid allegations of Russian interference in US elections

In 2016’s DNC cyberattack, CrowdStrike detected attacks against major clients, such as the US government and leading think-tanks.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reviewed computer forensic evidence provided by the cybersecurity firm, though the bureau’s failure to warn officials despite findings caused outrage.

Meanwhile, Russian officials denied all allegations of interference in the US elections.

The US government’s findings on the attack was that they were carried out by Russian groups Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, which were classified as advanced persistent threat (APT29).

Russian antivirus provider Kaspersky said that the APT29 seek classified information residing in the networks of government agencies and political groups, as well as think-tanks and various individuals.

Additionally, CrowdStrike stated in the past that cyberattacks perpetrated by Chinese hackers were successfully repelled.

- CrowdStrike has heavily invested in Israeli cybersecurity firms

CrowdStrike has made heavy investments in Israeli cybersecurity firms, such as Cybersixgill, DoControl, and Dig Security.

In 2020, CrowdStrike acquired the Israeli startup Preempt Security and established a large research and development center in the country two years later.

CrowdStrike acquired another Israeli cybersecurity startup, Reposify, and the cloud security startup Bionic for $350 million in 2023.

In 2024, CrowdStrike acquired Flow Security for $200 million.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul