Happy Tuesday! Ironically, the recent hectic news cycle has probably made us all older and decide to step away from the computer. Send news tips to: [email protected]. Today:
Congress Steps Up Oversight of Global CrowdStrike Outages
Lawmakers are ramping up scrutiny of the historic computer glitches that grounded thousands of flights and disrupted emergency services last week, the first of several congressional committees set to hold high-profile hearings.
Republican leaders on the House Homeland Security Committee on Monday demanded that CrowdStrike’s CEO George Kurtzwhose company caused the outages by sending Windows users a botched software update has agreed to hold a hearing by Wednesday, as I reported.
Delegates. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and Andrew R. Garbarino (RN.Y.) wrote in a letter to the company that the outages “should serve as a broader warning about the national security risks associated with grid reliance.”
CrowdStrike said in a statement that the company is “actively in contact” with the relevant congressional committees and that “timelines for engagement may be disclosed at the members’ sole discretion,” but declined to say whether Kurtz will testify.
The lawmakers’ demand is likely just the beginning of a broader campaign in Congress to get answers about how the daily lives of millions of users and many organizations were abruptly disrupted by one company’s flawed update.
The House of Representatives, Homeland Security, is not the only panel looking into the incident:
- The House Oversight Committee, which oversees the government’s use of software, has received a briefing from Microsoft and is schedule separate briefings with CrowdStrike and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a spokesperson said.
- Republican Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ), the top Democrat on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said members are also “contacting all relevant parties to get answers” on the question of “how such a widespread, destabilizing incident could happen.” Spokespeople for the chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) did not respond to requests for comment.
- In the upper chamber, Senator. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) has summoned the Pentagon to disclose whether defense operations were affected by the outages. A Defense Department spokesman said the agency was monitoring its networks for potential impact but would not comment on their status for security reasons.
Those efforts could be expanded to focus more on other actors, such as Microsoft, whose ubiquitous workplace products suddenly confronted with new criticism.
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The company has said the impact of the outages “was determined by CrowdStrike’s reach; not Microsoft’s reach.” Microsoft estimates that 8.5 million devices were temporarily disabled and said it has deployed hundreds of engineers to work with customers to restore service.
Kurtz, CrowdStrike’s CEO, said in a series of X messages Friday that the outages were “not a security or cyber incident” and that the company is “continuing to work with customers and partners” to resolve service disruptions. CrowdStrike has said it has implemented 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 canceled more than 800 flights Monday due to the ongoing impact of the disruptions, as my colleague Aaron Gregg reported. It’s one of thousands of flights canceled across multiple airlines since Friday.
Airlines were among the businesses hardest hit by the power outages. Some federal agencies were also forced to close their local offices and 911 emergency services were disrupted.
Schumer to Call Senate Vote on Online Child Safety Measures
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) will announce plans Tuesday to bring to the floor two major bills expanding online safety and privacy protections for children, capping a years-long campaign by senators to take action on the issue.
The two bills, known as KOSA and COPPA 2.0, have received broad bipartisan support in the House but have been stalled for months due to opposition from a small group of senators, who Schumer said blocked the swift passage of what is known as a unanimous consent motion.
That has forced Senate leaders to develop a new plan to pass the bills, which are widely seen as the most significant legislative effort in decades to curb the potential dangers children face online.
Schumer will announce a new legislative vehicle aimed at passing the bills in a speech Tuesday and schedule procedural votes for later in the week, as soon as Thursday, his office said. Together, the bills would require companies to prevent harm to children, including cyberbullying and sexual exploitation, and ban targeted advertising to children and teens.
In a statement, Schumer said he is “proud to work side by side” with families who have been pushing for Congressional action to “bring legislation to the floor that I believe will pass and better protect our children from the negative risks of social media and other online platforms.”
Even if the bills pass the Senate, their future in the House of Representatives is uncertain. Negotiations on broader privacy legislation have recently collapsed, and Republican leaders have expressed concerns about measures targeting children.
Government scanner
Biden administration urges tech companies to step up child safety efforts (Cristiano Lima-Strong)
Biden Tweets Instead of Talking, While Elon Musk Clings to Chaotic Election (Cat Zakrzewski, Naomi Nix and Trisha Thadani)
In Silicon Valley, where Trump made his entrance, Democrats are now strengthened (New York Times)
EU threatens to fine Meta for saying Facebook is ‘free’ (Verge)
Within the industry
Nvidia prepares version of new flagship AI chip for Chinese market (Reuters)
Google’s Jigsaw opens Altitude’s source code to help online platforms ban extremist content (TechCrunch)
Privacy Monitor
After years of uncertainty, Google says it won’t be deprecating ‘third-party cookies’ in Chrome (Digiday)
Trending
Returns from the ‘Amazombies’: Unwanted parcels are a nightmare for retailers (Caroline O’Donovan)
A week of non-stop political news is confusing AI chatbots (Heather Kelly)
Journal
- The House of Representatives Special Committee on China will hold a hearing on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., “The Great Firewall and the CCP’s Export of the Techno-Authoritarian Surveillance State.”
- The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services will hold a hearing titled, “AI Innovation Explored: Insights into AI Applications in Financial Services and Housing,” at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
- Public Citizen, the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, is hosting a virtual event, “AI’s Impact on Energy and Climate Policy,” on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.
- The House of Representatives Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing titled, “CFTC Reauthorization: Stakeholder Perspectives” on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
- Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission Lina Khan speaks at a YCombinator panel, “AI, Startups, and Competition: Shaping California’s Tech Future,” Thursday at 12 p.m.
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