Crowdstrike's update on Microsoft outage: 'Issue found, fix deployed'

Microsoft outage: Crowdstrike clarified that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack but due a defect in an update, which has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed

Amid the ongoing chaos over the global Microsoft outage linked to US cybersecurity company Crowdstrike on Friday, the company stated that the issue had been detected and a fix deployed to restore operations.

The company clarified that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack. “The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed,” Crowdstrike chief executive officer George Kurtz said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Kurtz informed that the outages on Microsoft’s operating system were caused by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. He added that Mac and Linux were not impacted by the issue. Windows is an operating system software product of Microsoft that manages computer systems.

 

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 issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We…

— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024

Security expert Omer Grossman’s comments

According to Omer Grossman, the global chief information officer at security firm CyberArk, the glitch was caused by the software update in one of Crowdstrike's products. “This is a product that runs with high privileges that protects endpoints,” he said, noting that its malfunction can cause the operating system to crash.

Grossman added that because the endpoints have crashed in this case (displaying Blue Screen of Death on devices), they cannot be updated remotely. This has to be solved manually, which could take days, he added.

Falcon software update caused the crash

Earlier, news agency Reuters had said that Crowdstrike’s "Falcon Sensor" software caused Windows to crash. Millions of users around the world reported seeing a display of “Blue Screen of Death” error on their devices, which kept shutting down or restarting automatically.

This automatic device shutdown happens to prevent damage to the computer, Microsoft said.

Flight services, stock exchanges, and banks were among the various sectors affected by the issue that still persists. Flight carriers Air India, IndiGo, and stock brokers 5 Paisa were among the Indian businesses impacted.

In an update on X, Microsoft said it was aware of the issue on Windows 365 Cloud PCs, which it confirmed was due to the CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor software.