The cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike tried to give a $10 UberEats gift voucher as a thank you for the workers who helped fix the recent global outage, but Uber flagged it as a possible fraud.
CrowdStrike has confirmed that the $10 voucher was sent to “teammates” and “partners” who assisted customers affected by an incorrect software update.
The failure caused chaos in airports, cancellations of hospital appointments and blackouts on TV channels.
TechCrunch, a tech news site, reported that when some voucher recipients tried to use their vouchers they received an error message stating that the voucher had been cancelled and was no longer valid.
A CrowdStrike representative said Uber blocked the cards following high usage rates that triggered a fraud alarm.
The spokesperson said that “CrowdStrike didn’t send gift cards to clients or customers.” We sent these cards to our partners and teammates who were helping customers in this situation. Uber flagged this as fraud due to high usage rates.”
As reported by TechCrunch in the email that issued the voucher, CrowdStrike stated: “We acknowledge the additional work caused by the incident of 19 July.” We send our sincere thanks for this and apologize for any inconvenience.
According to an estimate made by an insurer on Wednesday, the update that was botched would cost US Fortune 500 companies $5.4bn . The worst affected companies were the banking, airline, and healthcare industries.
CrowdStrike said in a blog on Wednesday that a bug was the main cause of the failure. The update CrowdStrike had pushed out to its Falcon product is meant to protect companies from cyber-attacks.
CrowdStrike has also detailed measures to prevent the occurrence of a similar incident. These include staggered rollouts of updates, giving users more control over where and when they happen, and providing additional details about planned updates.
Air France KLM announced on Thursday that they expect to take a loss of around EUR10m as a result of the incident. Delta Air Lines, based in the US, appeared to be the worst affected carrier. It has cancelled over 6,000 flights since last Friday. The US Transportation Department opened an investigation, “to ensure that Delta’s passenger rights are protected”.
Post Disclaimer
The following content has been published by Stockmark.IT. All information utilised in the creation of this communication has been gathered from publicly available sources that we consider reliable. Nevertheless, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this communication.
This communication is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as an offer, recommendation, solicitation, inducement, or invitation by or on behalf of the Company or any affiliates to engage in any investment activities. The opinions and views expressed by the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Company, its affiliates, or any other third party.
The services and products mentioned in this communication may not be suitable for all recipients, by continuing to read this website and its content you agree to the terms of this disclaimer.