If you had a flight booked for July 19, you are likely still reeling from the worldwide travel meltdown resulting from the Microsoft software outage. In the days following the outage, thousands of flights were delayed or canceled, with Delta Airlines being the hardest hit. CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, quickly took the blame for the incident, citing a bug in a software update as the reason for the technology crash.

But what relief can the thousands of people stranded at airports for days on end expect? How can companies like Delta recoup the loss in profits and customer loyalty that they will experience due to such widespread cancellations? Attorneys are already considering the litigation that could be following such a large and unprecedented disruption. The first and most obvious target for lawsuits will be CrowdStrike itself. However, companies will also need to consult their cyber insurance policies to determine if they have coverage in the event of a business interruption or vendor outage. Ironically, CrowdStrike may even be able to recover under its cyber insurance coverage.

Due to the widespread nature of the outage, class action lawsuits representing the losses of both individuals and entire business sectors may also be a recovery vehicle. This may become especially true if airlines like Delta are found not to comply with the Department of Transportation’s guidelines concerning refunds, vouchers, and other remedies available to travelers affected by delays and cancellations.

Of course, the outage was not contained to the airline industry. Many industries felt the impact, including retailers, banks, hospitals, and delivery logistics. Litigation may encompass these losses as well, putting the total economic cost of the incident potentially in the billions according to some industry experts.

So, what can be learned from the largest IT outage in history? Whether a company was affected on July 19 or not, it is good practice to review current IT vendor contracts and cyber insurance coverage to see if there are any gaps, or if the business would be covered under a similar event. If not, there may be an opportunity to negotiate terms for coverage in the event of business interruption, whether the interruption is caused maliciously or simply by a faulty software update. Experts also suggest that companies take this event as an opportunity to diversify the cyber tools used within an industry, as the CrowdStrike outage has made the world painfully aware of how too much reliance on a single tool can cripple an entire sector.