Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has accused Delta Air Lines of “misleading reporting” about a recent global technology outage as the two companies continue to battle over responsibility for damages suffered by the airline.
Delta Airlines has threatened to sue CrowdStrike over the outage, which its CEO said has cost the airline $500 billion.
CrowdStrike’s lawyer, Michael Carlinsky, said the company’s liability should be less than $10 million. He noted CrowdStrike’s apology after the outage and said he was “very disappointed” that Delta had accused the company of misconduct.
In a letter to Delta lawyer David Boies and obtained by The Hill on Sunday, Karlinsky said the airline’s threats of lawsuits “further the misleading narrative that CrowdStrike is responsible for Delta’s IT decisions and response to the outage.”
Karlinski questioned why other airlines were able to recover from the outages more quickly, saying cybersecurity companies held them accountable for their actions after the outages, while “Delta didn’t.”
Several airlines experienced technical issues on July 19, with Delta facing mass cancellations over the next few days. The outages were linked to a CrowdStrike update that crashed computers running Windows software.
CrowdStrike quickly deployed a fix, but it took a long time for affected customers to recover. Thousands of Delta flights were canceled or delayed in the days following the outage.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said on CNBC that the company had “no choice” but to file suit.
In a statement to The Hill, a CrowdStrike spokesperson said Karlinki’s letter “speaks for itself.”
“We express regret and apologies to all customers for this incident and the confusion it has caused,” the statement said. “The public pose of potentially filing a baseless lawsuit against CrowdStrike, a long-time partner, is not constructive for any party. We hope Delta agrees to work together to find a resolution.”
In his letter, Karlinski said that litigation between the two companies would be unfortunate, but that CrowdStrike would “respond aggressively if compelled to do so to protect our shareholders, employees and other stakeholders.”
In a statement to The Hill, Delta said: “We have a long track record of investing in safe, reliable and quality service for our customers and employees. Since 2016, Delta has spent billions of dollars annually on IT operational costs and has invested billions more in IT capital expenditures.”
— Updated 1:19 p.m.
