An update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike led to a major outage on Friday, affecting businesses globally. The company is currently in the process of rolling back the update that caused the issue. While the outage is not believed to be the result of a hack or any malicious action, it has caused widespread reports of technical issues across the world.
Microsoft also experienced an outage affecting its cloud apps in the U.S. on Friday. Although it is not clear whether this outage is directly linked to CrowdStrike’s update, the update issue at CrowdStrike appears to have directly affected Windows systems worldwide, with laptops displaying the infamous “blue screen of death.”
Businesses Affected
Various industries, including airlines, banks, and telecom firms, reported issues on Friday. American Airlines mentioned a technology issue affecting multiple carriers, while the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM had to suspend most of its operations. Spain’s airport authority AENA warned travelers of delays due to an incident in the computer system, and U.K. airline Ryanair experienced disruptions due to a third-party IT outage, advising passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before departure.
Banks and financial companies worldwide reported issues, with the London Stock Exchange facing technical issues with its data and news platform. German finance giant Allianz experienced a major outage that impacted employees’ ability to log into computers, affecting multiple companies besides Allianz, specifically affecting the Windows login due to an incident at CrowdStrike.
While Visa’s ability to process payments does not appear affected, reports indicated people were unable to make payments. The company is working with financial institution clients to understand any impact on services to cardholders and merchants. NBC Universal also faced disruptions due to the CrowdStrike outage.
Omer Grossman, CIO at cybersecurity firm CyberArk, commented on the situation, stating that the damage caused by the outage would be significant. The glitch was attributed to a software update of CrowdStrike’s EDR product, causing the operating system to crash. Grossman expressed that resolving the issue would be challenging, as the crashed endpoints must be manually addressed, which could take days to complete.
The cybersecurity update by CrowdStrike resulted in a major outage that impacted businesses globally, including cloud services, airlines, banks, and financial companies. The incident serves as a reminder of the potential consequences of software updates gone awry.
Please stay tuned for further updates on the situation.
Leave a Reply