Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
- Federal officials are raising concerns about the security of the software supply chain following the CrowdStrike outage.
- The White House and the U.S. Government Accountability Office are highlighting memory safety vulnerabilities as a key issue.
CrowdStrike Outage Renews Supply Chain Concerns, Federal Officials Say
Published Aug. 2, 2024
Federal officials are expressing worries over the security of the software supply chain in the wake of a global IT outage triggered by a faulty CrowdStrike software update. The U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report detailing the disruption of 8.5 million Microsoft Windows systems on July 19, raising concerns reminiscent of the 2020 SolarWinds supply chain attack. The White House has emphasized the importance of addressing memory safety issues in software development, with the Office of the National Cyber Director calling for the adoption of memory safe programming languages and chip architecture. Companies like SAP, Palantir, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have shown support for this initiative. Microsoft and CrowdStrike are working to investigate the root cause of the outage and prevent future incidents. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is collaborating with partners to understand the impact of the IT outage and enhance resilience in the face of cyber threats.
Key Points:
- The U.S. Government Accountability Office highlighted memory safety vulnerabilities in the wake of the CrowdStrike outage.
- The White House and tech industry are working together to mitigate software supply chain risks and improve cybersecurity resilience.
- Collaboration between federal agencies, companies, and cybersecurity experts is crucial to address memory safety issues and prevent similar incidents in the future.
