Tech tsunami: What triggered the global CrowdStrike crash, what to do next

A major tech meltdown rippled across the globe overnight on Thursday and Friday (July 19, 2024) as Microsoft reported a global outage of its online services.

Thousands of flights were grounded, causing inordinate suffering among tens of thousands of flyers. Many businesses faced IT nightmares as Windows machines malfunctioned worldwide.

The dreaded and so-called "blue screen of death" (BSOD) greeted thousands, perhaps millions, of frustrated Microsoft users.

The BSOD errors on Windows systems form a critical error that abruptly shuts down (or restarts) the computer.

From Australia and Germany to India and the US, a cascade of technical glitch triggered disruptions for businesses, from banks and airports to TV stations and hotels, according to a Wired report.

Mac and Linux hosts were not impacted.

Here's what we know about the downtime, reportedly arising from Crowdstrike bug:

Buggy update: News sources initially suggested a recent Crowdstrike update might be responsible. It turned out to be true. Crowdstrike did confirm this to be the culprit.

Impact: The outage likely affected businesses that rely on Crowdstrike's cybersecurity solutions, potentially hindering their antivirus protection, threat intelligence, or incident response capabilities.

Downtime duration: Information on the exact duration of the outage is unavailable at this time.

Official cause: Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz confirmed on X that a “defect” was found in a "single content update" for Windows hosts.

A Falcon sensor, or "agent", is an endpoint detection and response platform that monitors the computers that it is installed on to detect intrusions like hacks and respond to them, University of Melbourne tech expert Toby Murray told Australian media.

Falcon is one of Crowdstrike software products that organisations install on their computers to keep them safe from cyber attacks and malware.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz stated on X that the company is actively working with customers impacted by what he termed as a “defect” found in a single content update for Windows hosts.

“This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.”

“We further recommend organisations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.

CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack.

The following countries were reportedly affected:

(As per Crowdstrike update 9:22am ET, July 19, 2024:)

CrowdStrike Engineering has identified a content deployment related to this issue and reverted those changes.

If hosts are still crashing and unable to stay online to receive the Channel File Changes, the following steps can be used to workaround this issue:

It's important to stay updated on official announcements from Crowdstrike and Microsoft regarding the cause, resolution, and any recommendations for their clients.