CrowdStrike is reportedly giving clients a $10 Uber Eats gift card to apologize for a catastrophic software update that triggered a global tech meltdown last week.
Millions of computers running Microsoft Windows were affected by the “blue screen of death” on Friday due to a CrowdStrike glitch that left them unable to boot.
CrowdStrike has been working urgently to manage the crisis, which is anticipated to cost Fortune 500 companies billions of dollars.
In an email addressed to “CrowdStrike partners” and obtained by TechCrunch, the cybersecurity firm apologized for “the additional work the July 19 incident has caused.”
“To express our gratitude, your next cup of coffee or late night snack is on us!” read the email, which included a promo code for Uber Eats and was reportedly sent by CrowdStrike’s chief business officer, Daniel Bernard.
Several X users shared that they had received a gift voucher from CrowdStrike, though some mentioned that the code seemed to have been taken offline and was no longer valid.
“Two hours later the code is cancelled and the $10 removed from Uber Eats account,” another X user remarked. “That’s an uhh…interesting way to apologize to partners.”
It remains unclear whether some or all of CrowdStrike’s clients received gift cards.
Microsoft estimated that around 8.5 million devices were likely affected during the meltdown, which left passengers stranded in airports worldwide and disrupted normal operations in some hospitals.
In a detailed report published Wednesday, CrowdStrike explained that a bug in its quality control system had prevented the identification of flawed data in a routine software update.
“I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for the outage,” CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz stated in a statement posted online last Friday. “All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation.”
