New Microsoft Crowdstrike Update Causes Massive Outage; Details Inside

Windows 10 customers worldwide are experiencing significant outages due to a new Crowdstrike update, which is causing PCs to become stuck on the recovery screen. According to reports, the current Windows error has caused widespread disruptions everywhere. Users on social media shared photographs of their screens locked on the recovery page. Further, the outages have become the reason for flight delays and computer shutdowns.

Microsoft Crowdstrike Causes Massive Outage

Users across the globe complained of a blue frozen screen with the message “It looks like Windows didn’t load correctly. If you’d like to restart and try again, choose Restart my PC below.” Crowdstrike has also addressed the issue on a recent help page, stating that the latest Windows crashes are due to issues with the Falcon sensor. It stated “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.”

Users also reported seeing Blue Screen of Death error warnings at banks, supermarkets, and media firms. This has caused problems with several TV studios, and some radio studios are unavailable. Cirium, an aviation analytics business, reports that 1,390 flights have been canceled as a result of the global IT failure. So far, 512 flights have been canceled in the United States, 92 in Germany, 56 in India, 45 in Italy, and 21 in Canada, according to statistics. Due to a Microsoft outage, 90% of flights at Bengaluru Airport’s Terminal 1 were disrupted.

“Not A Cyber Attack”

Crowdstrike’s CEO admits the problem was caused by antivirus software interaction, not a hack. Mac and Linux are not impacted; a patch has been released. The outage was triggered by CrowdStrike’s defective security upgrade. The company’s CEO, George Kurtz, stated in a statement that it was “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.”

Well, the new solutions suggested are to manually reboot each machine into safe mode, remove a specific file, and then restart normally. Security experts stated that, while the technique is very easy, it cannot be automated at scale.

Users React

Well, after disruptions caused in airports, many operations are manned by the airport staff. Additionally, handwritten tickets, details scribbled on whiteboards, and whatnot have been observed. The Crowdstrike has caused serious halt and delay. One of the users shared his first hand-written boarding pass after the shutdown of computers at the airport.

The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today 😅 pic.twitter.com/xsdnq1Pgjr

— Akshay Kothari (@akothari) July 19, 2024

Amid the problems caused, one of the users highlighted the situation of the IT employees. Reacting to the current shutdown the user also uploaded a video showing how busy the employees will be.

Every IT worker walking into work this Friday knowing that the global Crowdstrike BSOD global IT meltdown means they’ll have to cancel all weekend plans and work non-stop for the next 72 hours pic.twitter.com/DegB8fMR6o

— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) July 19, 2024