The award for ‘most epic fail’ goes to this $50 billion-plus company

Just weeks after a software update caused widespread IT chaos, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has taken an unusual approach to damage control. Instead of shying away from the spotlight, the company’s president, Michael Sentonas, boldly accepted the “Most Epic Fail” award at the Pwnie Awards.
Just to refresh a bit of memory, on July 19 some of the biggest airlines, banks and other essential services in many parts of the world came to a standstill as a massive outage rippled across the globe.The outage, which has brought the Blue Screen of Death upon thousands of Windows machines across the globe, is linked to one software company: CrowdStrike. As of July 19, CrowdStrike’s valuation was upwards of $83 billion; it has come down to just under $60 billion post the outage.
Coming back to the awards, the unexpected win came on the heels of a high-profile presence at Black Hat, where CrowdStrike had a major booth and distributed free merchandise. The company’s message to attendees, according to a spokesperson, was one of gratitude and appreciation for the community.

Most customers reportedly seem willing to CrowdStrike a second chance

Sentonas’ acceptance speech, shared widely online, was met with surprising enthusiasm. The Pwnie Awards audience, much like the Black Hat attendees, seemed willing to give CrowdStrike a second chance. The award itself was a last-minute addition, a humorous acknowledgment of the company’s recent blunder.

Accepting the comically large trophy, Sentonas admitted the error but emphasized the company’s commitment to learning from its mistakes. He pledged to display the award prominently at CrowdStrike headquarters as a constant reminder of the importance of protecting users.
The company’s public response has been seen as a bold strategy to rebuild trust and transparency. By owning up to the failure in such a public manner, CrowdStrike aims to demonstrate its commitment to accountability and improvement.