Happy Tuesday! Ironically the recent frenzied news cycle has probably aged us all and made us want to step away from the computer. Send news tips to: cristiano.lima@washpost.com. Today:
Congress is ramping oversight of the global CrowdStrike outages
Lawmakers are dialing up scrutiny of the historic computer outages that grounded thousands of flights and disrupted emergency services last week, with the first of what could be several congressional committees angling for high-profile hearings.
Republican leaders on the House Homeland Security Committee on Monday demanded that CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, whose company triggered the outages by sending Windows users a botched software update, commit to a hearing by Wednesday, as I reported.
Reps. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Andrew R. Garbarino (R-N.Y.) wrote in a letter to the company that the outages “must serve as a broader warning about the national security risks associated with network dependency.”
Advertisem*nt
CrowdStrike said in a statement that the company is “actively in contact” with the relevant congressional committees and that “engagement timelines may be disclosed at Members’ discretion,” but declined to say whether Kurtz will testify.
The lawmakers’ demand is likely just the beginning of a broadening congressional campaign to get answers on how millions of users and many organizations saw their daily business abruptly upended by one company’s faulty update.
House Homeland Security isn’t the only panel digging into the incident:
- The House Oversight Committee, which has purview over government use of software, received a briefing from Microsoft and is scheduling separate briefings with CrowdStrike and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a spokesperson said.
- Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said members are also “reaching out to all appropriate parties to get answers” on “how such a widespread, destabilizing incident could occur.” Spokespeople for Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) did not respond to requests for comment.
- In the upper chamber, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) has called on the Pentagon to disclose whether any defense operations were impacted by the outages. A Defense Department spokesperson said the agency is monitoring its networks for possible impacts but does not comment on their status for security reasons.
Those efforts could expand to focus more squarely on other actors, like Microsoft, whose ubiquitous workplace products are suddenly facing fresh criticism.
GET CAUGHT UP
Stories to keep you informed
The company has said the impact of the outages “was defined by the reach of CrowdStrike; not the reach of Microsoft.” Microsoft has estimated that 8.5 million devices were temporarily disabled, and said it has deployed hundreds of engineers to work with customers to restore service.
Advertisem*nt
Kurtz, the CrowdStrike CEO, said in a series of X posts on Friday that the outages were “not a security or cyber incident” and that the company “continues to work with customers and partners” to resolve disruptions of service. CrowdStrike has said it has deployed a technical fix to address the issue, but the full impact of the incident, which left some systems down well into this week, remains unclear.
Delta Air Lines on Monday canceled more than 800 flights as fallout from the outages continued, as my colleague Aaron Gregg reported, adding to the thousands more canceled across various carriers since Friday.
Airlines were among the businesses hardest hit by the outages, which also forced some federal agencies to close down their local offices and disrupted emergency 911 call services.
Schumer sets up Senate vote on child online safety measures
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is set to unveil Tuesday plans to bring two major bills expanding online safety and privacy protections for children to the floor for a vote, capping a years-long campaign by senators to take action on the issue.
Advertisem*nt
The two bills — known as KOSA and COPPA 2.0 — have drawn broad bipartisan support in the chamber but languished for months amid opposition from a small group of senators that Schumer said blocked swift passage through what’s known as a unanimous consent motion.
That has forced Senate leaders to develop a new plan to pass the bills, which are widely viewed as the most significant legislative attempt in decades to rein in potential harms children experience online.
Schumer will announce a new legislative vehicle aimed at passing the bills in a floor speech Tuesday and tee up procedural votes for later in the week, as soon as Thursday, his office said. Together, the bills would require companies to prevent harms to children including cyberbullying and sexual exploitation and ban targeted advertising to kids and teens.
Advertisem*nt
In a statement, Schumer said he is “proud to work side-by-side” with families who have pushed for congressional action to “put on the floor legislation that I believe will pass and better protect our children from the negative risks of social media and other online platforms.”
Even if passed by the Senate, the bills face an uncertain path in the House, where negotiations over broader privacy legislation recently unraveled and Republican leadership has expressed concern about the child-focused measures.
Government scanner
Biden administration urges tech companies to step up child safety efforts (Cristiano Lima-Strong)
Biden tweets instead of talks, as Elon Musk seizes on chaotic election (Cat Zakrzewski, Naomi Nix and Trisha Thadani)
Advertisem*nt
Inside the industry
Google’s Jigsaw open sources Altitude to help online platforms weed out extremist content (TechCrunch)
Privacy monitor
After years of uncertainty, Google says it won’t be ‘deprecating third-party cookies’ in Chrome (Digiday)
Trending
Returns of the ‘Amazombies’: Unwanted packages are a retail nightmare (Caroline O’Donovan)
A week of nonstop breaking political news stumps AI chatbots (Heather Kelly)
Daybook
- The House’s select committee on China holds a hearing, “The Great Firewall and the CCP’s Export of its Techno-Authoritarian Surveillance State,” Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.
- The House Financial Services Committee holds a hearing, “AI Innovation Explored: Insights into AI Applications in Financial Services and Housing,” Tuesday at 10 a.m.
- Public Citizen the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator host a virtual event, “AI’s Impact on Energy and Climate Policy,” Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
- The House Committee on Agriculture holds a hearing, “Reauthorizing the CFTC: Stakeholder Perspectives,” Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
- Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan speaks at a YCombinator panel, “AI, Startups, and Competition: Shaping California’s Tech Future,” Thursday at noon.
Before you log off
Never check your work email on a day off pic.twitter.com/FeL21vmCww
— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) July 21, 2024
That’s all for today — thank you so much for joining us! Make sure to tell others to subscribe to Tech Brief. Get in touch with Cristiano (via email or social media) and Will (via email or social media) for tips, feedback or greetings!
