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Did you see the “Blue Screen of Death” on your computer or laptop on July 19th, 2024? If yes, let us tell you, you are not alone. Microsoft Windows users throughout the World including countries like the US, India, Australia, Germany, UK etc have faced the same.
In this article, we will be revealing the details of the issue and what caused it.
What does CrowdStrike do?
CrowdStrike is a reputed name in the IT industry which is known for its cybersecurity services. The company has thousands of global customers and it is based on the Falcon platform that keeps systems away from cyber security threats and reduces risks. CrowdStrike is situated in the heart of Texas with more than 8000 employees. After the incident that has created a huge impact on multiple operations worldwide, CrowdStrike clarified in a statement that the issue was triggered by a Falcon content update.What caused the outage?
To understand the cause of the outage, you need to know exactly what happened on that day. It all started when Windows users came across the blue screen of death which clearly indicated a system malfunction on Windows PCs. As a result, most people assumed it to be a Microsoft-related issue. However, Redmond, a city in Washington addressed the issue to be an investigating problem that has affected cloud services throughout the USA. It did not take long for people to figure out that Microsoft was not responsible for the outage but a faulty software update from CrowdStrike’s Falcon sensor version 7.11 is the main reason behind it. Generally, CrowdStrike utilizes these updates to find new indicators of threat and enhance its detection and management capabilities. However, this time it is a bit different due to problematic content in a template file that caused Microsoft systems to fail. Unfortunately, CrowdStrike’s automated content validator tool could not detect the flawed content and accepted it for delivery. This issue has created a boot loop in which a Windows system restarts without displaying any warning. In simple words, it fails to execute an entire boot cycle properly. So one of the biggest questions that haunts the IT industry now is “Why did it happen?” Well, there could be multiple reasons behind that like:- Insufficient testing.
- Improper sandboxing (sandboxing is a process of scrutinizing code in a closed environment to help protect systems against malicious software or threats.) and more.
Who was affected by the CrowdStrike outage?
The impact of the CrowdStrike outage was felt in multiple sectors and industries including the following:- Airlines: The sector that has witnessed thousands of flight cancellations throughout the world during this period. The most affected aviation companies in the USA are United, Delta, and American Airlines.
- Medical: Due to the dependence on Microsoft Windows systems, many medical appointments were delayed and canceled. A few states like Indiana, Alaska and New Hamshire have also informed about disruptions in 911 emergency services.
- Public transport: Public transportation was also not spared. Major cities like New York, Chicago, Washington D.C faced issues with public transportation services.
- Media: Media operations have gone through major challenges as well as a result of which various media houses had to be taken off air including MTV, VH1, and British broadcaster Sky News.
- Financial services: Starting from online banking systems to multiple payment platforms, almost the entire financial system services struggled to manage their regular activities smoothly. Some people have also complained about not receiving their paychecks on time.
Why only Microsoft systems were affected and not Apple or Lixus?
It is true that Microsoft is not the only partner of CrowdStrike. The cybersecurity firm is also associated with several other IT giants including Apple and Linux. So a question that automatically comes here is why only Microsoft systems were affected due to the faulty software update in July? It is because the channel file 291 update was associated with Microsoft only and not with Apple or Linux systems. Besides this, the process in which the Falcon sensor integrates with Windows is different from the process that Apple or Linux follows. Apple holds strict control over the entire security system which helps them prevent issues like this. IT experts are constantly researching on the same to find the most accurate answer to this. Currently, CrowdStrike is under immense pressure to tighten its security measures and Microsoft on the other hand, is also preparing itself to avoid such incidents in the future.How businesses be prepared for such outages?
The entire CrowdStrike event and the chaos that it created clearly pointed out the fact of how badly our modern society is dependent on technology. Such outages can happen in the future as well but businesses need to be prepared for it to handle its impact. In addition to regular backups and automatic procedures, they should also be able to handle manual procedures smoothly to ensure that such outages do not affect their business operations.About the Author
