The Crowdstrike outage is historical. Millions of workstations are crashing, around the world.
The global outage grounded flights and knocked banks, hospital systems and media outlets offline: a massive disruption that affected businesses and services around the world and exposed reliance on technology regarding software from a handful of providers.
On Friday, a massive IT outage disrupted various sectors of the global economy, affecting everything from air travel to financial markets. Planes were grounded, long queues formed at airports, the broadcast of the Sky News channel was interrupted, and the London Stock Exchange faced significant disruptions.
Microsoft acknowledged the issue, stating, “We are aware of an issue affecting Windows devices following an update to a third-party software platform. We expect a resolution soon.” The root cause of the outage, reported around 06:30 GMT, was linked to an update from CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity firm. This update, affecting Windows devices and many users, caused widespread system crashes.
George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, addressed the problem on social media, clarifying that it was not due to a cyberattack or a computer security issue. He confirmed that the issue was “identified” and “being corrected,” and noted that Mac and Linux systems were unaffected. Microsoft further updated its status, saying, “The underlying cause of the issue has been fixed and several Microsoft 365 apps and services have returned to full functionality. The residual impact still affects some Microsoft 365 services and apps (…) we are monitoring this closely to ensure that we are progressing towards a full recovery.”
The scope of the CrowdStrike outage is unprecedented
The scope of the CrowdStrike outage is unprecedented, with millions of workstations crashing globally. Typically, large-scale outages are due to cloud service crashes, DNS problems, or cable cuts. However, this incident is unique in that millions of laptops and workstations experienced simultaneous crashes, drawing comparisons to major malware outbreaks like Wannacry or NotPetya.
The irony is stark: the very software meant to protect systems brought them down. Endpoint security software, which requires low-level access to safeguard computers, can crash entire systems if it fails. This software is updated more frequently than any other, necessitating robust quality assurance processes. Unfortunately, these processes failed in this instance. The outage is being blamed on a botched driver update.
While workarounds for the crash are known, they are manual and require physical access to each affected machine. Most critical systems are operational again, but it will take days, possibly weeks, to fully resolve the issue for all affected systems.
If you’re concerned about this issue, our cybersecurity experts are ready to assist and support your organization in safeguarding against such disruptions. Our team can help you implement preventive measures to reduce the risk of similar incidents, including robust update management and comprehensive testing procedures. We can also provide immediate support to address any current vulnerabilities and work towards a swift recovery for your affected systems. Ensuring the stability and security of your IT infrastructure is our top priority, and we are here to offer the expertise and solutions you need to maintain seamless operations. Contact us now.