At Clue, we prioritize the highest standards of software stability for our managed services. Our commitment is demonstrated through our rigorous multi-stage internal quality assurance (QA) process. After a General Availability (GA) release by a software supplier, we validate each vendor’s software through an extensive QA process, even if the manufacturers assure us that they have already tested it. Only after passing our stringent tests is the software released to our customers. This ensures that potential errors are identified and resolved before deployment, providing unmatched stability and reliability. Our dedication to this process exemplifies why Clue stands firmly behind its QA protocols, ensuring the utmost stability for our clients’ infrastructure.
CrowdStrike Incident Overview
On July 19, 2024, CrowdStrike released a configuration update for its Falcon sensor on Windows systems. This update caused a logic error, leading to system crashes and blue screens of death (BSOD) for affected users.
The consequence: World-wide chaos. The sectors affected include a large part of air travel as well as providers of banking and healthcare services.
The manufacturer distributed an improved version quickly after the incident and announced that it was not a cyberattack. However, fixing the problem often requires manually deleting a file after starting in safe mode.
Clue Systems and Managed Services Unaffected
It’s important to note that Clue systems and security services remained unaffected by this incident. The issue was isolated to CrowdStrike software, which is not in use within Clue’s infrastructure and services. Therefore, there was no impact on Clue’s operations or security.
Importance of Software Testing and Clue’s Additional QA Process
This incident underscores the critical importance of rigorous software testing. Even routine updates can introduce significant issues if not properly vetted. To ensure the highest grade of stability for our managed services, Clue employs a multi-stage internal quality assurance (QA) process. After a General Availability (GA) release by the software supplier, every vendor’s software is first validated through this multi-stage process. Only after successful testing is the software released to our managed services customers.
It’s worth mentioning that, in this special case of CrowdStrike, even our QA processes would not have prevented the incident since it was pushed through a configuration update, which occurs several times a day. Nevertheless, we want to use this case to emphasize why Clue stands so strongly behind its established QA processes. Comprehensive testing protocols help identify potential errors before they reach end users, ensuring stability and reliability in software deployments.
Our customers deserve the highest possible stability for their infrastructure. This is why Clue checks its suppliers’ software a second time before releasing it to their customers, even though it has already been checked by the manufacturers.
We hope all affected infrastructure responsible persons were able to resolve the issue already.