How One Mistake Crippled Tech Systems Worldwide; the Dangers of Restaurant Reviewing–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: July 22, 2024

Indy Digest: July 22, 2024

The big news yesterday wound up pushing to the backburner another massive news story—one that shows how interconnected, fragile and easily disrupted the world’s technical infrastructure is today.

In case you don’t know what happened, here’s a primer via a computer scientist, writing for The Conversation: “A faulty automatic update to the widely used Falcon cybersecurity software from CrowdStrike caused PCs running Microsoft’s Windows operating system to crash. Unfortunately, many servers and PCs need to be fixed manually, and many of the affected organizations have thousands of them spread around the world. … Microsoft, CrowdStrike and other companies like Amazon have issued technical work-arounds for customers willing to take matters into their own hands. But for the vast majority of global users, especially companies, this isn’t going to be a quick fix.”

Yep: One bad software update by one company you probably hadn’t heard of before Friday crippled a lot of the world’s computers—and caused massive problems. Hospitals, banks, TV news broadcasts, 911 systems, airports and more were crippled for a time on Friday and beyond, as the computers they depend upon were stuck in a loop that resulted in the Windows “blue screen of death.” Delta Air Lines still has not recovered and will likely have to cancel thousands more flights as a result of the mess.

Locally, organizations ranging from the Indio Police Department to the Palm Springs International Airport dealt with outages as a result.

How is this even possible? Back to The Conversation:

Software supply chains have long been a serious cybersecurity concern and potential single point of failure. Companies like CrowdStrike, Microsoft, Apple and others have direct, trusted access into organizations’ and individuals’ computers. As a result, people have to trust that the companies are not only secure themselves, but that the products and updates they push out are well-tested and robust before they’re applied to customers’ systems. The SolarWinds incident of 2019, which involved hacking the software supply chain, may well be considered a preview of today’s CrowdStrike incident.

If you want a detailed explanation of what exactly happened, I recommend this piece from Wired. The story ends with an examination of how similar disruptions can be avoided in the future:

“People may now demand changes in this operating model,” says Jake Williams, vice president of research and development at the cybersecurity consultancy Hunter Strategy. “For better or worse, CrowdStrike has just shown why pushing updates without IT intervention is unsustainable.”

The phrase “people may now demand changes” is a definite indication that nothing can be done in the near future. Here’s hoping this debacle does indeed lead to changes—because the fact that one bad software update can cripple systems worldwide is a recipe for even more disaster.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• The Palm Springs Post did a fantastic investigative story late last week about a small nonprofit that was awarded a contract by the city of Palm Springs to administer a universal basic income pilot program—and it appears most of the money went into the pockets of the nonprofit’s founder: “By (November 2022), Queer Works had already billed for and received nearly all of the $700,000 approved by the city council, using the majority of the funds for staffing costs – far more than city leaders were led to believe would occur. The $500,000 that was supposed to help fund direct payments to program participants had evaporated. Invoices and progress reports sent to the city from Queer Works, obtained by The Post, show (Queer Works founder/CEO Jacob) Rostovsky submitted bills to the city for more than 1,200 hours of work on the project over 11 months, billing a total of $699,414. His tasks included research, completing the application for state money, community engagement, and overall project management. The city check register shows the invoices were approved for payment.”

• One of the valley’s most respected solar companies has suddenly shut down, leaving customers in the figurative lurch. The head of the company pledged that the shutdown is only temporary. KESQ News Channel 3 reports: “Renova Energy will be temporarily stopping business operations in California and Arizona after issues with a partial investor, the company announced on Friday. … ‘With the current default condition of SunPower Corporation, a partial investor in Renova Energy Corporation, I am forced to temporarily stop Renova’s California and Arizona business operations, including our installation, service, and roofing organizations,’ reads the letter, written by Vincent J. Battaglia, CEO and Founder of Renova Energy Corporation. … Battaglia said he asked his employees to take a temporary furlough while he works to establish new relationships with other solar lending providers. ‘I used about a half a million dollars of my own money, and I used that to make payroll today, and then had to make the decision, as I believe good business owners should that if you can’t make payroll the following week, well, then you simply have to ask everyone to take a temporary layoff,’ Battaglia told News Channel 3. Renova hopes to finalize at least two new partnerships by Monday and plans to work with energy consultants in the coming weeks.”

• SARS-CoV-2 is a weird virus that can have far-reaching effects on humansincluding brain damage in some older people. Yikes. Time magazine says: “Studies suggest that COVID-19 is associated with possibly long-lasting changes to the brain, potentially contributing to cognitive problems like brain fog, mental fatigue, and memory loss, as well as neurological and mental-health issues. The virus seems able to damage blood vessels and support cells in the brain and may kickstart changes to the immune system that also affect brain function, says Dr. Wes Ely, co-director of the Center for Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. … Many people of all ages recover just fine, mentally and physically, after a COVID-19 case. But lingering cognitive effects are a real risk, particularly for older people, Ely says. Older adults are more likely to experience severe COVID-19, which has long been linked to a higher risk of long-term complications. And they may have had preexisting cognitive issues that become worse after infection.”

• There’s a lot of weird and disturbing elements to Project 2025, the blueprint for a possible Trump presidency written by a lot of his former staffers and allies. These elements include … privatizing weather forecasts?! The Washington Post reports: “A conservative proposal drafted by the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 has ignited an intense debate this month by proposing that a Republican administration privatize weather forecasting now done by government agencies. The plan would break up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the parent agency for the National Weather Service, describing it as ‘one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry.’ Meanwhile, a separate Republican proposal introduced in the House last year calls for transforming NOAA into an independent agency akin to NASA, a plan critics say could expose it to political influence. … During Trump’s term, scientists said they were sidelined, muted or forced out by the hundreds and raised concerns that the administration misrepresented their research on the coronavirus and reproduction—as well as on hurricane forecasting, environmental advocates said. ‘It does worry me what the future will hold’ for staff at NOAA and the Weather Service, said JoAnn Becker, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization. The union represents 4,000 workers at those agencies.”

• Today’s recall news involves … rice! And rodents! Ew! The Sacramento Bee says: “Federal regulators have elevated a recall involving 27,600 bags of wild rice from a Northern California farm distributed to seven states due to concerns that the product may contain a foreign object that ‘appears to be of rodent origin.’ The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said the recall of Lundberg Family Farms Wild Blend Rice one-pound bags would be elevated to a Class II after the Butte County company’s voluntary recall was first issued on May 10. A Class II recall is for a product that ‘may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences’ as opposed to a Class III which is not likely to have health effects. Rice from Richvale-based Wehah Farms, which markets under the name Lundberg Family Farms, was distributed in California, Oregon, Washington, Maine, Florida, Arizona and New Hampshire.”

• And finally … The Associated Press does a piece on the dangerous job of … restaurant reviewing? Yep! A snippet: “(New York Times restaurant critic Pete) Wells announced he’s leaving the beat because the constant eating has led to obesity and other health problems. ‘Intellectually, it was still really stimulating, but my body started to rebel and say, “Enough is enough,”’ Wells told The Associated Press. ‘I just had to come face to face with the reality that I can’t metabolize food the way I used to, I can’t metabolize alcohol the way I used to and I just don’t need to eat as much as I did even 10 years ago.’ To write a review, food critics usually make two or three visits to a restaurant and bring a handful of dining companions so they can taste as many dishes as possible. If the restaurant has a special focus on wine or cocktails or desserts, they try those, too. ‘You have to sample the full range of the menu,’ said Ligaya Figueras, the senior food editor and lead dining critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ‘If I really felt like a salad today, I can’t just have the salad.’”

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