Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz Made PR Blunder With Late Apology

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer George Kurtz co-wrote a book that’s commonly referred to as the bible of computer security. When it comes to crisis management, though, he’s on shakier ground.

In a post on social media platform X early Friday morning about a botched software update that crashed countless computer systems globally, Kurtz made clear the incident was not a cyberattack, his firm had identified the problem, and deployed a “fix.” What he didn’t say — at least at first — was the magic phrase that public-relations experts advise all businesses to shout from the rooftops at times like this: “I’m sorry.”