Introduction

Early Friday morning, a routine update to CrowdStrike’s widely used cybersecurity software, specifically the Falcon Sensor, led to one of the most significant tech outages in recent years. The faulty code within the update files caused widespread disruptions, affecting hospitals, health systems, and medical practices across the states.

The CrowdStrike Incident: What Went Wrong?

The Update:

• CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor software aims to enhance clients’ systems’ security against hacking by updating the threats it defends against.
• However, during deployment, a bug in the update resulted in a “blue screen of death” (BSOD) error for Microsoft Windows users, preventing them from rebooting their computers.

Impact on Healthcare Providers:

• CrowdStrike is widely used in healthcare organizations, with over a million individual devices relying on it in the U.S. alone.
• Hospitals and health systems faced operational challenges as they scrambled to provide care without access to electronic health records.
• Epic, a major electronic health records company, reported idled workstations, while other facilities struggled with data center software issues³.
• Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted in this incident.

In light of the CrowdStrike incident, healthcare partners using DocBox’s Clinician Assistant in Critical Care are reassured by the platform’s robust Linux-based infrastructure. Here are some key advantages of using Clinician Assistant:

• Linux-based infrastructure: DocBox leverages the inherent security benefits of Linux, including its strong user permissions model and resistance to common malware and viruses that often target Windows systems.
• Strengthened Device Protection: The Clinician Assistant in Critical Care adds a protective layer between medical devices and the network, preventing these devices from becoming attack vectors.
• Secure Network Communication: It removes devices from direct network access, allowing the Clinician Assistant to securely transmit critical data and enabling remote patching and monitoring, which is often not available for bedside devices.
• Comprehensive Network Security: By incorporating secure network architectures, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and secure communication protocols, the Clinician Assistant ensures data transfer and access are protected from potential breaches.

The recent CrowdStrike outage underscores the critical importance of robust cybersecurity measures and careful update management. By leveraging DocBox’s Clinician Assistant in Critical Care, healthcare providers can ensure greater stability, security, and efficiency in their operations, safeguarding against similar disruptions in the future.