Unprecedented IT disruption disrupts global businesses
Businesses around the world faced massive IT (information technology) outages on Friday, affecting industries including financial services, healthcare and media. The aviation industry has borne the brunt, with flights grounded and services delayed, and airports grappling with the consequences. The massive outage was caused by issues with a recent technical update from cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike.
Root cause: Security company CrowdStrike update issue
On Friday, CrowdStrike experienced a major system outage due to a recent software update. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz explained that the issue stems from a content update flaw in Windows, and clarified that Mac and Linux are not affected. He stressed that this was not a security breach or cyber attack, saying "the problem has been identified, isolated and a solution deployed."
The largest crash in history: Banks and airports were affected
Experts say this could be the largest IT outage in history. Several industries including banks, healthcare and television broadcasters have been affected. The aviation industry has been particularly hard hit, with multiple reports of grounded flights and service delays. Microsoft's cloud services also suffered an outage, but were restored later in the day.
Event Center: What is CrowdStrike?
CrowdStrike is a well-known network security provider known for its endpoint security solutions that use cloud technology to protect network-connected devices. Many Fortune 500 companies, including major banks, healthcare and energy companies, rely on CrowdStrike's software to detect and block cyber threats. The company's Falcon platform, designed to prevent cyber breaches, was at the center of Friday's questions.
"Blue and white crash screen" (BSOD)
In Friday's incident, many users encountered the infamous "Blue and White Screen of Death" (BSOD) on their Windows devices. This error is caused by an update related to CrowdStrike's Falcon product. The update conflicts with Microsoft's Windows operating system, causing widespread system crashes. Microsoft acknowledged the issue, noting that it began on July 18 at 19:00 UTC, and confirming that CrowdStrike had withdrawn the problematic update.
We're investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services. More info posted in the admin center under MO821132 and on https://t.co/W5Y8dAkjMk
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 18, 2024
Web3 takes the opportunity to speak out
Self-proclaimed cyberpunk opined that “perhaps the solution to critical infrastructure vulnerabilities is not ‘a single B2B SaaS company with core access permissions.’” SpaceX security staff said: “Third-party vendors will always be the weakest links and isolate key systems." Their ideas were also retweeted by Musk.
This is a wake up reminder that you shouldn’t have an internet connected privileged binary running on your production systems. What was a bad update could have easily been a massive adversary backdoor. A third party vendor will always be the weakest link. Isolate critical systems
— Christopher Stanley (@cstanley) July 19, 2024
Microsoft shares edge down, CrowdStrike tumbles
This article Microsoft and CrowdStrike issues led to the largest IT outage in history first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.
