STRIKE FARCE
Who are CrowdStrike? Tech firm behind virus update that sparked ‘doomsday’ Microsoft outage worldwide
Boarding passes at airports are being handwritten in response
THE IT outage creating chaos across the globe appears to stem from a dodgy update sent out by cyber-security company CrowdStrike.
TV channels, banks, hospitals, airports and emergency services have all taken a hit from the system crash.
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Founder of cyber research company Imperum Senad Aruc described the incident as “CrowdStrike Doom’s Day”.
He wrote on X: "Looks like Crowdstrike Dooms Day it is real, many airline companies having issues with their systems. Schiphol airport is frozen."
CrowdStrike is an IT security firm based in Austin, Texas that provides a platform to protect data and is reportedly used by Microsoft.
The company offers a platform dubbed "Falcon Sensor" designed to "blocks attacks on your systems while capturing and recording activity as it happens to detect threats fast".
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But the Falcon Sensor software appears to have caused the crash.
CrowdStrike chief executive George Kurtz wrote on X: "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 refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.
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"We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.
"Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers."
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An alert on the CrowdStrike support page said: "CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor.
"Symptoms include hosts experiencing a bugcheck\blue screen error related to the Falcon Sensor.
"Our Engineering teams are actively working to resolve this issue and there is no need to open a support ticket."
The company regularly updates systems with new anti-virus software.
Cyber expert Troy Hunt told Australian TV network Seven: “It looks like they've pushed a bad update, which is presently nuking every machine that takes it."
Other cyber experts said it illustrated the perils of an interconnected world so reliant on IT functioning properly.
What we know so far...
- Cybersecurity software firm CrowdStrike sent out a flawed anti-viral update which affected Microsoft Windows systems around the world
- Airports, businesses, banks, newsrooms, television networks, supermarkets, ships and more have been plunged into chaos
- Planes were even made to remain in the air on Friday morning
- Britain woke up to chaos with NHS appointments cancelled, mayhem at supermarkets and huge airport queues
- Friday's Sky News breakfast show was wiped off computer and TV screens completely
- Microsoft uses CrowdStrike to handle its system updates - with the tech company looking to fix the outage “urgently”
- CrowdStrike said the problem is related to their “Falcon Sensor” and they have reverted back to an older system to avoid further disruption
- The company confirmed it was not a hack or cyber attack
CyberCX chief strategy officer Alastair MacGibbon told newspaper the Sydney Morning Herald: "It highlights the interconnected nature of software.
"It’s that classic situation – the more hyper-connected we are, the more one single issue that goes wrong can cause ripple effects around the world."
Microsoft announced it was taking "mitigation actions" to rectify the issues.
They said via X: "Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions."
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Meanwhile, Brits were warned of travel chaos sparked by the outage/
Ryanair has told passengers to arrive three hours early, while Govia Thameslink Railway warned of disruption amid "widespread IT issues".
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