A widespread Microsoft outage caused chaos around the world on Friday, disrupting flights, banks, media outlets and companies. Escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, recorded growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and airlines.
The issue, according to cybersecurity company Crowdstrike, was caused by one of its updates, which it said affected Microsoft Windows devices.
Microsoft has said it is taking "mitigation action" to deal with "the lingering impact" of the outage.
How Did The Outage Happen?
The outage caused Microsoft laptops and PCs to show a “blue screen of death”, meaning users were unable to access their systems.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said the company was working to fix problems created for Windows users of its tools by a recent update in a post on the social media platform 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. 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 CEO George Kurtz
What Is CrowdStrike?
CrowdStrike is one of the world's top cybersecurity companies, supplying software to thousands of businesses around the world to protect against viruses and cyber attacks. With its headquarters located in Austin, Texas, the corporation employs close to 10,000 people. The company's software, called CrowdStrike Falcon, is used in the background on numerous corporate networks to identify viruses and cyber threats.
CrowdStrike Falcon is believed to be at the root of the issue. It is a “100% cloud-based solution” that provides businesses with online virus, malware and cyber threat protection.
Or “real-time threat detection, simplified management, and proactive threat hunting,” in CrowdStrike’s own words.
CrowdStrike was founded in 2011 by George Kurtz, Dmitri Alperovitch, and Greg Marston. Only Kurtz remains at the company in 2024.
