Reflections on the CrowdStrike Outage: Strengthening Incident Response and Business Continuity Plans
Now that we've navigated through the memes and the initial panic surrounding the CrowdStrike outage, it’s time to reflect and adjust our strategies in incident response and business continuity planning. The recent content update-induced outage not only caused disruptions but also served as a reality check for many organizations, including ours at Breach Craft.
Scale and Impact
According to a Microsoft blog post, the CrowdStrike incident affected about 8.5 million computers globally. This massive disruption is a wake-up call to the potential scale of impact in our highly interconnected digital environment.
Key Considerations for Response Planning
Resource Constraints During Mass Outages
One of the standout issues during the outage was the bottleneck in cloud resources. As many scrambled to get systems back online, the strain on infrastructure led to slow disk I/O across several regions. It is one thing when our response plan requires us to snapshot and mount copies of our system volumes as part of a process, but it’s another when everyone is doing it at the same time. Our response plans need to factor in such constraints, ensuring we have strategies to mitigate these challenges during widespread incidents.
Non-Security Related Outages
It's vital to remember that not all outages come from cyber-attacks. This incident is a prime example of how other factors can lead to significant downtime. As security experts, we must avoid tunnel vision—our plans should cover a broad spectrum of potential disruptions.
Scalability of Manual Interventions
The suggested manual fix during the CrowdStrike outage—booting into safe mode and manually deleting files—highlighted a critical gap in many existing procedures. Does this scale? For many, the answer was no. However, @BrooksPeppin's innovative approach using a bootable WinPE image to automate the recovery process exemplifies the kind of creative problem-solving we should all aspire to integrate into our practices. He shared a helpful blog that outlines his approach.
BitLocker Key Recovery Delays
A notable issue during the CrowdStrike outage was the struggle many faced in recovering their BitLocker keys, which significantly delayed restoration efforts. This highlighted a common gap in disaster recovery plans: effective management and prompt accessibility of encryption keys.
To avoid such pitfalls, organizations should ensure their key recovery strategies are robust and frequently tested, making encrypted data accessible quickly during disruptions. Enhancing these practices will help minimize downtime and maintain operational continuity when challenges arise.
Update: It seems Microsoft has incorporated some lessons learned from the strategy @BrooksPeppin outlined to create guidance for automating the recovery of systems, including Bitlocker-protected systems.
Innovative Solutions and Learning from Industry Events
Embracing a proactive mindset involves looking at real-world incidents to test our systems and assumptions. Following accounts like @badthingsdaily, who create practical tabletop scenarios from current events, helps us stay sharp and prepared. Whether it impacts us directly or not, every incident provides a learning opportunity that can fortify our defenses and response capabilities.
Vendor Consolidation Considerations
With the trend towards vendor consolidation, the risk of a single point of failure increases. Diversifying our strategies and maintaining flexible response plans will be essential as we move forward.
Continuous Improvement Through Real-World Scenarios
Our journey towards improving our cybersecurity programs and disaster recovery strategies is ongoing. By continuously learning from each incident and adapting our methods, we ensure that our preparedness evolves alongside the changing landscape.
Conclusion
Now that the immediate crisis is over, let’s use this incident as a stepping stone to bolster our incident response and business continuity plans. At Breach Craft, we're here to assist with Virtual CISO services, policy reviews, and customized tabletop exercises, helping you ensure that your organization is not just prepared for the next big outage but is a step ahead in its overall security posture.
Ready to enhance your cybersecurity strategy? Connect with us at BreachCraft.io and let’s fortify your defenses together.