Eileen Ridley on Cyber Outage Legal Fallout – 'Claims may not be as straightforward'

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Eileen Ridley commented on the flurry of litigation in the wake of the CrowdStrike cyber outage in the Daily Journal article, “Experts question viability of Delta’s claims over cyber outage.”

Ridley, assessing Microsoft’s defense against Delta’s potential claims, said that even if Delta was operating antiquated technology, the airline was still using a Microsoft-powered system and that Delta’s refusal of assistance did not automatically disentitle the company from recovering damages.

“Even if we assume everybody is saying everything correctly, there has yet to be something presented that suggests a complete and total defense for Microsoft,” Ridley explained, noting that spin-off claims may result from Delta’s and other affected companies’ discussions with their insurance companies.

“It seems like this update from CrowdStrike took everyone by surprise and one wonders, if it were such a significant update, that maybe there should have been more notice given,” Ridley added. 

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