📰 CrowdStrike Outage | Tuesday Times | July 23, 2024

Joses

What is Tuesday Times?

Tuesday Times is a weekly Tuesday series where we highlight a handful of recent cybersecurity-related news stories. We'll provide brief summaries of these news stories and link the articles directly, should you want to read more!

Feel free to comment on any of the articles highlighted, or share your own in the comments below!

📰 CrowdStrike Outage | Tuesday Times | July 23, 2024

Blue screen of death strikes crowd of CrowdStrike servers

• On Friday, July 19th, the world was hit by the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death,” well at least the parts of the world that rely on Windows. Crowdstrike, the cybersecurity software company, pushed out a bugged software update that caused millions of Windows computers to crash.
• From major banks to the biggest airlines like Delta, United, and American Airlines, this crash affected millions of people by delaying flights or even shutting entire businesses for the day. Other affected areas include emergency (911) systems, US Customs and Border Protection, hospital databases, and even court hearings.
• This type of incident not only makes one realize how fragile the world truly is but also the dangers of over-reliance on individual vendors and the importance of thorough quality assurance processes.

Apple Warns iPhone Users to Stop Using Google Chrome

• We don’t typically report on ad campaigns or company rivalries, but Apple recently launched a new ad that piqued our cybersecurity interest. It focuses on data privacy by having flying security cameras watching every move you make on your phone until you use their native internet browser, Safari.
• According to Forbes, the two tech giants, Apple and Google, are beginning to part ways due to recent “monopoly investigations in the US and Europe.” 
• With Google Chrome’s tracklist of tracking cookie data even in its “Private Mode,” this take from Apple will likely turn some heads and at least have users questioning if and how they’re being tracked. While Apple is using browser privacy to win over customers, making more people aware of their data and how it is tracked is a great first step to better cybersecurity.

FTC is investigating how companies are using AI to base pricing on consumer behavior

• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently ordered 8 companies to turn over information regarding their “surveillance service pricing.” According to TechCrunch, these companies include, "Mastercard, Revionics, Bloomreach, JPMorgan Chase, Task Software, PROS, Accenture, and McKinsey & Co."
• Surveillance pricing is defined as "a practice that allows companies to charge different customers different prices for the same goods based on their personal data." The FTC wants to investigate their usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ensure that these companies are not charging different customers "personalized" prices.
• We'll make sure to keep you posted as soon as the FTC provides some updates on this investigation and details on how these tools are being used.