Global computer outage shows where vulnerabilities lie: Dutch parliamentarians

The computer outage on Friday in the Netherlands and other countries exposed a vulnerability that the government must do more to combat, several parliamentarians believe. “We must move towards a society in which hospitals can offer emergency care, buses can continue to run, and planes can continue to fly when systems fail,” said Jesse Six Dijkstra (NSC). MPs from the VVD and GroenLinks-PvdA also advocate for measures to increase resilience.

Employees of various companies and public organizations saw blue screens of death on Friday after installing an update on their Windows computers. The cause lies with the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which has since found a solution. But not before all flights at Schiphol were delayed or canceled, several hospitals had to cancel surgeries and close outpatient clinics, regional bus services stopped running, and two terminals at the port of Rotterdam closed.

Ingrid Michon (VVD) and Barbara Kathmann (GroenLinks-PvdA) are surprised that an error at one company can have such major consequences. The government must “invest more in making plans for when the IT is completely down and in alternative services,” said Kathmann on X.

This time appeared to be an “unfortunate incident” due to problems at Crowdstrike, said Six Dijkstra. The company insisted that the outage was not due to a cyber attack or security incident. But it is still a “good wake-up call” that shows that it is not self-evident that computer systems always work.

Countries with offensive cyber programs, like Russia, can exploit the same weaknesses next time. These countries will be watching with interest, said the MP, who previously worked at the intelligence service AIVD. “In these times of war, we must reduce vulnerable dependencies.”

The latter can be done by drawing up protocols in case something goes wrong. In healthcare, for example, that could include a plan to ensure that doctors are still available and surgeries can happen even if the computers are not working. Six Dijkstra said the government must play a coordinating role in this.