Adapting to new threats with proactive risk management
In July 2024, a botched update to the software defenses managed by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused more than 8 million Windows systems to fail. From hospitals to manufacturers, stock markets to retail stores, the outage caused parts of the global economy to grind to a halt. Payment systems were disrupted, broadcasters went off the air, and flights were canceled. In all, the outage is estimated to have caused direct losses of more than $5 billion to Fortune 500 companies. For US air carrier Delta Air Lines, the error exposed the brittleness of its systems. The airline suffered weeks of disruptions, leading to $500 million in losses and 7,000 canceled flights.
The magnitude of the CrowdStrike incident revealed just how interconnected digital systems are, and the extensive vulnerabilities in some companies when confronted with an unexpected occurrence. “On any given day, there could be a major weather event or some event like what happened…with CrowdStrike,” said then-US secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg on announcing an investigation into how Delta Air Lines handled the incident. “The question is, is your airline prepared to absorb something like that and get back on its feet and take care of customers?”
Unplanned downtime poses a major challenge for organizations, and is estimated to cost Global 2000 companies on average $200 million per year. Beyond the financial impact, it can also erode customer trust and loyalty, decrease productivity, and even result in legal or privacy issues.
A 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare, the medical-billing subsidiary of industry giant UnitedHealth Group—the biggest health and medical data breach in US history—exposed the data of around 190 million people and led to weeks of outages for medical groups. Another ransomware attack in 2024, this time on CDK Global, a software firm that works with nearly 15,000 auto dealerships in North America, led to around $1 billion worth of losses for car dealers as a result of the three-week disruption.
Managing risk and mitigating downtime is a growing challenge for businesses. As organizations become ever more interconnected, the expanding surface of networks and the rapid adoption of technologies like AI are exposing new vulnerabilities—and more opportunities for threat actors. Cyberattacks are also becoming increasingly sophisticated and damaging as AI-driven malware and malware-as-a-service platforms turbocharge attacks.
To prepare for these challenges head on, companies must take a more proactive approach to security and resilience. “We’ve had a traditional way of doing things that’s actually worked pretty well for maybe 15 to 20 years, but it’s been based on detecting an incident after the event,” says Chris Millington, global cyber resilience technical expert at Hitachi Vantara. “Now, we’ve got to be more preventative and use intelligence to focus on making the systems and business more resilient.”
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