Many people likely hadn’t heard of CrowdStrike before July 19, the day it became infamous for triggering widespread blue screens of death. What started as a flawed security update in Australia quickly cascaded across the globe, disrupting air travel, halting banking services, delaying medical procedures, and causing flight cancellations. This unprecedented global IT outage, caused by one company’s technological mishap, underscores the vulnerabilities inherent in our increasingly tech-reliant world.
The full extent of the damage from the CrowdStrike incident is still unknown, though initial estimates suggest it could run into the billions. The company is likely to face numerous lawsuits worldwide as affected parties seek accountability. Beyond legal implications, this global outage highlights the precariousness of a society optimized around technology, especially when much of that technology is concentrated in the hands of a few powerful corporations. CrowdStrike’s integration with Microsoft’s systems amplified the incident’s impact, affecting Windows-based infrastructure across both public and private sectors.
The threat isn’t limited to IT failures. Cyberattacks, inadequate maintenance, energy shortages, droughts, or financial constraints could all disrupt the systems we depend on. Hospitals, for example, have long been targets for cybercriminals. Earlier this year, a cyberattack on hospitals in London led to the postponement of 1,130 surgeries and 2,190 outpatient appointments, with potentially life-altering consequences for those affected.
Human error is just one vulnerability in our tech-dependent world. We place immense trust in the cloud, treating it as an invulnerable, mystical realm. However, in reality, our digital lives are stored in environmentally unsustainable data centers that are both at risk from and contributors to environmental hazards.
In 2021, OVHCloud, Europe’s largest cloud hosting provider and the third largest globally, experienced a catastrophic fire that destroyed two data centers and temporarily shut down two others. The fire’s impact extended far beyond the physical damage in Strasbourg, France, as 3.6 million websites went offline, including cryptocurrency services, news outlets, and government sites. The most alarming aspect was that much of the data was irretrievably lost. This raises critical questions: Do we need this much data? Do we need such vast data centers? And if we do, how can we safeguard them? The concentration of vast amounts of data in single locations, with backups often stored on-site, led to total destruction of digital records. As big tech races to build more data centers to meet the demand from the booming AI industry, these risks will only intensify, especially in regions where technology’s thirst for resources is exacerbating environmental challenges.
In a modern twist on historical book burnings, the British Library, a repository of centuries-old knowledge, fell victim to a ransomware attack last year. This attack took its catalog offline for months and exposed sensitive data. Books, carefully preserved in temperature-controlled environments, became inaccessible. When technology, which is supposed to enhance access to information, fails, human knowledge can be trapped behind digital barriers. We must plan for analog backups to ensure that when systems fail, as they inevitably will, we aren’t left in the dark.
To ensure a sustainable future, we must be willing to step back from our over-reliance on technology. Just as research has shown that dependence on GPS systems diminishes our natural navigation abilities, a recent study suggests that while generative AI might boost students’ grades when used, it could leave them worse off in the long run. Unchecked dependence on technology controlled by a few could leave us literally lost if and when those systems fail. The CrowdStrike global IT outage should prompt us to ask essential questions for our future: What do we truly need technology for? How can we protect the infrastructure we rely on? And how can we ensure we can function without it?
We can’t afford to overlook the risks of technological dependence as we eagerly embrace its benefits. As we look to the future, we must be prepared to see clearly, even when the lights go out.