To Our Customers and Partners

CrowdStrike's statement after its 2024 outage, a model crisis release for opening with a direct apology before any explanation.

The release, as issued

303 words, copied from crowdstrike.com on Sep 22, 2026. The text belongs to CrowdStrike.

To Our Customers and Partners

Valued Customers and Partners,

I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for today’s outage. All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation. We quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix, allowing us to focus diligently on restoring customer systems as our highest priority.

The outage was caused by a defect found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This was not a cyberattack.

We are working closely with impacted customers and partners to ensure that all systems are restored, so you can deliver the services your customers rely on.

CrowdStrike is operating normally, and this issue does not affect our Falcon platform systems. There is no impact to any protection if the Falcon sensor is installed. Falcon Complete and Falcon OverWatch services are not disrupted.

We will provide continuous updates through our Support Portal at https://supportportal.crowdstrike.com/s/login/ and via the CrowdStrike blog at https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/statement-on-windows-sensor-update/. Please continue to visit these sites for the latest updates.

We have mobilized all of CrowdStrike to help you and your teams. If you have questions or need additional support, please reach out to your CrowdStrike representative or Technical Support.

We know that adversaries and bad actors will try to exploit events like this. I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and ensure that you’re engaging with official CrowdStrike representatives. Our blog and technical support will continue to be the official channels for the latest updates.

Nothing is more important to me than the trust and confidence that our customers and partners have put into CrowdStrike. As we resolve this incident, you have my commitment to provide full transparency on how this occurred and steps we’re taking to prevent anything like this from happening again.

George Kurtz

CrowdStrike Founder and CEO

Headline

To Our Customers and Partners

A direct address instead of a corporate label signals a personal statement rather than routine news, which fits a crisis.

Lead paragraph

Valued Customers and Partners, I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for today's outage. All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation.

The very first sentence is a first-person apology stated before any explanation or excuse, the opening move a crisis statement gets judged on.

Body

The outage was caused by a defect found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This was not a cyberattack.

The technical cause is stated in one plain, checkable sentence, and the worse possibility is ruled out immediately, heading off the most damaging rumor.

Quote

Nothing is more important to me than the trust and confidence that our customers and partners have put into CrowdStrike. As we resolve this incident, you have my commitment to provide full transparency on how this occurred and steps we're taking to prevent anything like this from happening again. — George Kurtz, CrowdStrike Founder and CEO

The statement is signed by name and title rather than issued as an unnamed company statement, putting a named leader behind the commitment.

Media contact

We will provide continuous updates through our Support Portal at https://supportportal.crowdstrike.com/s/login/ and via the CrowdStrike blog at https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/statement-on-windows-sensor-update/. Please continue to visit these sites for the latest updates.

Naming one single channel for ongoing truth gives customers a clear place to check instead of guessing where updates will appear.

Each passage above is quoted from the release; the note under it is this site's reading.

Why it works

The headline is a direct address rather than a corporate label, signaling a personal statement rather than routine news, which fits a crisis.
The very first sentence is a first-person apology stated before any explanation or excuse, which is the opening move a crisis statement gets judged on.
It states the technical cause in one plain, checkable sentence and immediately rules out the worse possibility, heading off the most damaging rumor.
It separates what is broken from what still works, so customers can tell exactly what is and is not affected.
It names one single channel for ongoing updates and explicitly warns that bad actors will try to exploit events like this, turning a secondary risk into part of the message.
It is signed by name and title rather than issued as an unnamed company statement.

A prompt to write one like it

Paste this into the AI tool you use, then answer its questions with your own facts. It copies the structure, not the wording.

Write a press release for [YOUR COMPANY] announcing [YOUR NEWS]. It is a Crisis management release.

Model it on the structure of CrowdStrike's release "To Our Customers and Partners", without copying its wording.

Structure, in this order:
1. Headline
2. Lead paragraph
3. Body
4. Body
5. Media contact
6. Body
7. Quote

Techniques to apply:
- The headline is a direct address rather than a corporate label, signaling a personal statement rather than routine news, which fits a crisis.
- The very first sentence is a first-person apology stated before any explanation or excuse, which is the opening move a crisis statement gets judged on.
- It states the technical cause in one plain, checkable sentence and immediately rules out the worse possibility, heading off the most damaging rumor.
- It separates what is broken from what still works, so customers can tell exactly what is and is not affected.
- It names one single channel for ongoing updates and explicitly warns that bad actors will try to exploit events like this, turning a secondary risk into part of the message.
- It is signed by name and title rather than issued as an unnamed company statement.

Avoid: The statement never gives a concrete restoration timetable or a scale figure such as how many machines or how many hours, it only commits to continuous updates; a writer modeling this should weigh whether withholding hard numbers this early is candor or just deferral.

Ask for any missing facts instead of inventing them.
Do not invent quotes or numbers.
Keep it under 500 words.
Use plain, direct language.
End with ###.

Or start from the blank

The crisis management template has the same parts in the same order. Fill it in on the page and download it.

Fill in the crisis management template

Written it? Now it has to reach someone.

Three free and five paid distribution services, compared side by side, with what each is good for and what it is not.

Need to distribute a PR?