The chapter explores a catastrophic incident caused by a faulty update to CrowdStrike's cybersecurity software, leading to widespread computer issues affecting critical services like 911 call centers and airport operations. The speakers recount personal experiences with flight delays, airport chaos, and manual calculations due to system failures. They delve into CrowdStrike's reputation, the significance of Falcon software operating at the kernel level, and the challenges faced in fixing the update at a global scale.
This week, the memes didn’t just fall out of coconut trees — a rundown of the social media reaction to Kamala Harris’s election campaign, and an exploration of what her tech platform might look like. Then we discuss a major new study on universal basic income with Elizabeth Rhodes, research director at OpenResearch, and ask whether it could be a solution to job losses to A.I. And finally, Kate Conger, a New York Times reporter, joins us to break down how the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike crashed the global IT infrastructure.
Guests:
- Elizabeth Rhodes, Research Director at OpenResearch
- Kate Conger, New York Times reporter
Additional Reading:
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