A recent software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused significant global disruptions on Friday, affecting various sectors from aviation to healthcare and banking.
The update impacted customers using Microsoft’s Windows Operating System. Microsoft announced the issue had been resolved by late Friday.
CrowdStrike in its website said it’s is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Customers of Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.
Financial impact on account of the IT outage is not known. It will be the #1 outage that affected several industries worldwide. Most of the PC users rely on Microsoft’s Windows Operating System for running their business.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz addressed the situation on social media platform X, explaining that the company was “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts” and that a fix was being deployed. George Kurtz clarified that this was not a security incident or cyberattack.
George Kurtz apologized for a global tech failure that disrupted multiple industries on Friday, vowing to work with all of its customers as they work to get their operations back online, Reuters news report said.
“We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our company,” he told NBC News’ “Today” program.
What happened?
The update caused major U.S. airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines, to ground flights, leading to delays and disruptions worldwide.
Banks and financial services companies from Australia to India and Germany also warned customers of disruptions, with traders experiencing significant issues in executing transactions. One trader described the situation as “the mother of all global market outages.”
In the UK, medical booking systems were offline, and Sky News was unable to broadcast live. Manchester United had to postpone a scheduled ticket release.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud unit acknowledged the issue affecting virtual machines running Windows OS, with the CrowdStrike Falcon agent getting stuck in a “restarting state.”
Spanish airport operator Aena reported a computer systems incident at all Spanish airports, causing flight delays. CrowdStrike’s alert to clients detailed that its “Falcon Sensor” software was causing Microsoft Windows to crash with a “Blue Screen of Death,” and provided a manual workaround.
More than half of Fortune 500 companies use CrowdStrike software, highlighting the widespread impact of this incident.
The disruptions affected airports in Singapore, Hong Kong, and India, forcing some airlines to check in passengers manually. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and airline Iberia also reported issues but managed to avoid flight cancellations. Air France-KLM and the Dutch foreign affairs ministry reported disruptions as well.
