How the CrowdStrike outage made IT supply chains the new big issue in tech

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The CrowdStrike outage – which caused massive disruption in the NHS, transport, banking and wider infrastructure – means the state of global IT supply chains became one of the big tech talking points of 2024. Industry expert Dafydd Vaughan, chief technology officer at consultancy Public Digital, said the Government needed to do more to boost competition within supply chains. “In all industries, Government should see the value of more competition in their supply chains, and work to increase the number of companies that provide these essential services and avoid monopolies controlling our national infrastructure.” That specific issue could be something raised in 2025, but in the meantime, the Government has already taken steps to boost the protection around IT infrastructure by announcing the designation of data centres as critical national infrastructure. After coming to power in July, the Labour Government said it would introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which would give greater power to regulators to push more firms to implement better cybersecurity defences by expanding the remit of existing regulation and put regulators on a stronger footing, as well as increasing the reporting requirements placed on businesses to help build a better picture of cyber threats to the UK.