A new survey examining public sentiment towards global IT and software providers in the aftermath of the July 2024 CrowdStrike IT outages reveals over three-quarters of people in the UK now worry about the heavy reliance of global organisations on IT systems and software providers.
The research was conducted by OnePoll, on behalf of International Cyber Expo organisers, Nineteen Group amongst 2,000 nationally representative UK respondents (aged 16+).
On 19th July 2024, cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike distributed a faulty update to its Falcon software that caused widespread problems with Microsoft Windows systems running the software. It was estimated that 8.5m computers around the world were affected by the outage, leaving computers disabled.
Research conducted by the International Cyber Expo also uncovered that 44% of respondents were directly impacted by the outages (18%) or knew someone who was (26%). Additionally, 55% of people reported not being personally affected but were still aware of the incident. This highlights the growing global awareness of tech issues among consumers.
While more than half of respondents reported no personal connection to the outages, over three-quarters (78%) expressed they were (to some extent) worried that global organisations rely too heavily on IT systems and software providers as a result.
The widespread disruption caused by the outages has likely renewed global interest in cybersecurity and its influence on daily life. This research emphasises how major cybersecurity events not only heighten general awareness but also shape public sentiment and deepen understanding of cybersecurity organisations.
Simon Newman, Co-Founder of Cyber London and International Cyber Expo Advisory Council member, says: “While it’s encouraging that consumers are becoming more aware of these types of incidents, this survey underlines just how complex and interconnected our supply chains are. Firms of all sizes must ensure they have robust plans in place to deal with any outages and work closely with external IT providers to reduce the likelihood of it occurring.”
Free registration is open for International Cyber Expo, which takes place on September 24th and 25th at Olympia London: https://international-cyber-expo-2024.reg.buzz/glonal-cyber-summit-press-release
