Last month’s Crowdstrike-related outage underscores the necessity for quality and security governance, robust software development and maintenance practices.

According to an assessment by the BCS Software Testing Specialist Group (SIGiST), it also determined that development teams must conduct a thorough root cause analysis, focusing on solutions rather than assigning blame, and it highlights the importance of adequate threat modelling for end user systems.

SIGiST also said that finding and addressing these root causes is pivotal for implementing effective countermeasures to prevent future occurrences.

The group says it advocates for these proactive measures, emphasising that a systematic approach —including security testing approaches such as threat modelling and traditional methods such as root cause analysis — is essential for maintaining software integrity and reliability.

Configuration update

Following the incident in July, which was determined to have been caused by the release of a content configuration update for Crowdstrike’s Falcon Windows sensor, and impacted 8.5 million Windows devices.

“Looking beyond and before the CrowdStrike incident, we see that the world’s digital systems have become more interconnected and interdependent,”  the group said. “They’ve also grown in capability and capacity.

“What’s more, behind the scenes, digital systems are starting to rely increasingly on AI and machine learning for development, testing and deployment. AI is also playing an increasingly important role in keeping systems safe from cyber attacks.”

The group also said that the EU's new AI Act may help improve testing standards, especially when ensuring the entire system is tested. “The recent CrowdStrike outage highlights the importance of integrating a holistic approach to technology management,” it said. “While automated tools and AI are hugely valuable assets, they should not replace human oversight and expertise.”

Reinforce quality and compliance

Among a series of recommendations, the group recommended:

• Companies should reinforce quality and security compliance, ensuring all engineers and team members responsible for quality know their accountability 

• To reduce the risks of security breaches, consider regular evaluations and internal audits.

• Resilience and failover processes need to be robust, and their underpinning mechanisms must be validated constantly through automatic and manual audits. 

It also recommended developing a culture where issues are openly discussed, and teams should be given the freedom to identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and continuously enhance processes. “Failures like the CrowdStrike outage present an opportunity to learn and improve,” it said.

“We all hope to create reliable, user-centred software. To achieve this, we need to strike a careful balance between human input into development and the use of advanced technologies. Developing a culture that fosters continuous development and encourages adoption is also essential.”

Dan Raywood Senior Editor SC Media UK

Dan Raywood is a B2B journalist with more than 20 years of experience, including covering cybersecurity for the past 16 years. He has extensively covered topics from Advanced Persistent Threats and nation-state hackers to major data breaches and regulatory changes.

He has spoken at events including 44CON, Infosecurity Europe, RANT Conference, BSides Scotland, Steelcon and ESET Security Days.

Outside work, Dan enjoys supporting Tottenham Hotspur, managing mischievous cats, and sampling craft beers.