CrowdStrike Wake-Up Call: Ten Steps to Strengthen Your Operational Resilience Strategy

The cybersecurity company CrowdStrike recently experienced a major global outage on July 20, 2024, resulting in widespread system disruptions for its clients. This incident affected major organizations worldwide, including banks, airlines, hospitals, and government offices, highlighting the critical need for robust operational resilience strategies. A faulty software update bypassed essential quality control measures, revealing inadequate testing and vetting processes, as reported by NBC News. This underscores the importance of organizations having comprehensive resilience strategies to evaluate the effects of disruptions and manage responses effectively.

Following the CrowdStrike incident, organizations worldwide have accelerated efforts to review their resilience strategies, with a particular focus on bolstering quality control processes for software updates. Several industry leaders have also begun implementing AI-powered monitoring tools to detect and address system vulnerabilities before they can lead to major disruptions.

Ask yourself: Is your business prepared for future incidents that may disrupt operations?

Here are ten steps to enhance your operational resilience strategy.

Your Ten-Step Action Plan

Ten Steps to Enhance Operational Resilience

1. Holistic Resilience Planning: Prepare for diverse threats, including cyberattacks, natural disasters, and supply chain disruptions, with scalable solutions that integrate analytics and quick recovery processes.
2. Comprehensive Risk Assessments: Utilize advanced algorithms and custom reporting to conduct thorough risk assessments, focusing on critical processes and impact factors to manage risk effectively.
3. Centralized Recovery Plans: Maintain a central repository of up-to-date recovery plans accessible online, ensuring strategies are readily available for efficient execution.
4. Vendor Risk Management: Assess and manage third-party risks by ensuring vendors have robust recovery and contingency plans, thereby securing critical services.
5. Adapting to Hybrid Workplaces: Update resilience plans to address the needs of a hybrid workplace, preparing for resource shortages and geopolitical challenges to maintain operational effectiveness.
6. Detailed Crisis Management Plans: Develop comprehensive crisis management plans with clear phases and tasks to streamline responses during a crisis.
7. Advanced Analytics and Dashboards: Use analytics tools to identify threats and vulnerabilities, gaining insights into processes and prioritizing data-driven decisions.
8. Regular Testing and Exercises: Regularly test and exercise resilience plans to ensure their effectiveness, refining strategies to enhance organizational resilience.
9. Internal Audits and Compliance: Conduct audits to support resilience efforts, identifying vulnerabilities and ensuring compliance with standards to strengthen recovery capabilities.
10. Scenario-Based Planning: Implement scenario-based planning to monitor key metrics, identifying risks and ensuring continuous protection.

How SAI360 Supports Operational Resilience

SAI360 offers solutions designed to enhance operational resilience and ensure rapid recovery from disruptions. Our platform includes tools for building risk assessments, managing recovery plans, and tracking resilience strategies with real-time dashboards. We support automated workflows for efficient information collection and response coordination.

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References:  

Reuters. (2024, July 20). CrowdStrike update that caused global outage likely skipped checks, experts say. NBC News. [CrowdStrike update that caused global outage likely skipped checks, experts say](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/crowdstrike-update-caused-global-outage-likely-skipped-checks-experts-rcna162839). 

SAI360. (2024, February). Business Continuity Management. [Business Continuity Management](https://www.sai360.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/142378_SAI360-BCM_SS_0224_FINAL.pdf).  

SAI360. (2024, April 1). The Changing Face of Vendor Risk and Business Continuity Management. [The Changing Face of Vendor Risk and Business Continuity Management](https://www.sai360.com/resources/grc/the-changing-face-of-vendor-continuity-management). 

SAI360. (2024, April 1). Is Our Business Continuity Profession at a Crossroads. [Is Our Business Continuity Profession at a Crossroads](https://www.sai360.com/resources/grc/is-our-business-continuity-profession-at-a-crossroads).