Global Tech Failure Disrupts Multiple Industries
A worldwide technology failure caused significant disruptions across various sectors on Friday. The outage halted flights, took broadcasters off the air, and affected everything from banking to healthcare systems.
What Happened?
CrowdStrike, a leading US cybersecurity company, is at the center of the issue. With over 20,000 clients globally, CrowdStrike’s “Falcon Sensor” software has been causing Microsoft Windows to crash, displaying the infamous Blue Screen of Death.
An alert from CrowdStrike, reviewed by Reuters, was sent to clients at 0530 GMT on Friday, detailing a manual workaround to resolve the issue.
Why Did It Happen?
According to Omer Grossman, Chief Information Officer at CyberArk, the problem arose from a software update to CrowdStrike’s Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) product. EDR software, used to monitor for signs of cyberattacks, runs in the background on clients’ machines.
The update caused the endpoints (client computers) to crash, displaying the Blue Screen of Death. Since these endpoints cannot be updated remotely due to the crash, the issue must be resolved manually on each device, a process expected to take days.
Who Has Been Impacted?
The outage has affected various sectors worldwide, including:
- Spanish airports
- US airlines
- Australian media and banks
Governments in Australia, New Zealand, and several US states are also experiencing issues. Major US airlines like American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and Allegiant Air have grounded flights due to communication problems. In Britain, Sky News was off the air on Friday.
Why Are So Many Impacted?
With the widespread adoption of cloud services and the dominance of major software companies, their products run on millions of computers worldwide. This widespread use amplifies the impact when a significant issue arises.
Grossman emphasized the severe impact on global business processes due to the outage.
