A problem with Microsoft is that it disrupts the work of airports, hospitals, and banks worldwide.
Microsoft outage: CrowdStrike security update affects airports, hospitals, and banks around the world
The CrowdStrike security update was automatically installed via Microsoft's servers early Friday morning.
A major technology outage has hit computer systems globally, affecting airlines, hospitals, healthcare providers, 911 call centers, banks, and other businesses.
CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company founded in 2011, has more than ten different security and IT tools, and according to the company's website, it partners with nearly 300 Fortune 500 companies, six of the top 10 healthcare providers, and eight Top 10 companies in healthcare. The ten largest financial services companies and eight of the ten largest technology companies.
According to a White House press release, President Biden was briefed on the outage, and his team has been in contact with CrowdStrike. Biden is expected to receive "sector-by-sector updates," the Department of Homeland Security is working to "fully evaluate and address system outages."
What exactly is the problem?
Devices using Windows Client and Windows Server that automatically installed the CrowdStrike security update on Friday morning were "stuck in a reboot state." This "reboot condition" is colloquially referred to as the "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD), which prevents users from accessing their computers.
What is the reason for this?
Two problems occurred in Microsoft systems in succession. On Thursday, some Microsoft customers in the central United States reported issues with their cloud service, Azure, which led to several airlines briefly grounding all their flights.
On Friday, a flawed security update by CrowdStrike affected more Windows users. It needs to be clarified whether Microsoft's initial issue with Azure is related to crashes caused by the CrowdStrike update.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz issued a statement Friday morning clarifying that the matter was "not a security incident or cyberattack" and that "the issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed."
"We are deeply sorry for the impact we have caused to customers, travelers, and anyone affected by this, including our company," Kurtz said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show.
Why does it take so long to fix a CrowdStrike outage?
In a post on X early Friday morning, Microsoft said that while the root cause has been fixed, residual impact continues to affect some Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Lukas Oleinik, an independent cybersecurity consultant, told the New York Times that fixing the problem requires a manual reboot of each affected device. There is no way to automate the reboot process for large—scale businesses and industries affected, and each device affected must be addressed.
"There is a workaround, but it requires manually manipulating Windows system files in recovery mode," Olejnik told the outlet. "Such a practice is not usually recommended, as errors may cause other problems."
Therefore, these companies must know how to deploy many professionals to check and update each device individually.
This IT outage is a stark reminder of how dependent we are on technology and the many other things that happen behind the scenes that most of us don't know about.
Modern society and the many conveniences we enjoy are fragile things.
Every day, we have to be grateful for what we have.
Who is affected by a CrowdStrike outage?
Hospitals
Many major hospitals across the United States have had to cancel all "non-urgent visits" due to disruptions caused by power outages.
Mass General Brigham, a nonprofit that runs one of the largest hospital systems in Massachusetts, said in a post on X that it is devoting "all available resources to resolving this issue as quickly as possible."
"There are going to be deaths from this," James Burr, managing director of the cybersecurity consulting firm, told the Associated Press. no escape."
Airports
Airports worldwide have reported problems with international and domestic flights. Incheon International Airport, South Korea's largest airport, is dealing with delays across many low-cost airlines due to ticket issues and other services.
All flights at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany were temporarily suspended, although some departures began to resume around 10 a.m. CET. Dutch airline KLM also announced that it was affected and operations would be suspended until further notice.
Switzerland's largest airport in Zurich announced it was not allowing planes to land this morning.
More than 26,000 flights were delayed in the United States, and more than 2,000 flights were canceled due to service disruptions. By noon ET, the United Airlines ground station was lifted.
A 12-hour lag in aircraft movements for American Airlines, Delta, and United after what was likely the largest IT outage in history forced all three airlines to ground ground nationwide. pic.twitter.com/wwcQeiEtVe
911 Centers Connection
Several 911 emergency call centers were down across the United States — including in Phoenix and the entire state of Alaska — although some cities and states reported improvement throughout the morning.
Courts
The New York Times reported that court systems were temporarily closed today due to outages. This morning, the Maryland judicial system announced that it will only be open for "emergency matters." Some courts in Kansas have used paper filings and manual filing processes while awaiting resolution.
Schools
The outage also affected computers on campus, where summer school classes are ongoing. The University of Rochester, the University of Alabama, Rutgers University, and the University of Kentucky are among the few institutions that reported campus computers being hit by the CrowdStrike outage.
PowerSchool, one of the most widely used information systems for K-12 student classification and enrollment across the United States, also reported being affected by the outage.
Banks
TD Bank, the 10th largest bank in the United States, confirmed it was affected by the outage and said it was working to restore all online banking systems. Bank of America, Visa, JPMorgan Chase, Charles Schwab, and Zelle were also affected.
The London Stock Exchange's news service stopped working, and Pakistan's GS Bank told customers it was experiencing technical problems. Deutsche Bank said its research portal was affected, and S&P Global Market Intelligence also said it was experiencing "service issues across multiple S&P Global platforms, including securities financing products," Bloomberg reported.
However, forecasting firm Capital Economics told the AP that although power outages will continue to occur, it does not expect "a significant macroeconomic or financial market impact at this point."
Public Transportation
Most importantly, public transportation in major cities has managed to keep buses and trains running on time. However, the outage has affected ticketing systems and other technology sectors, such as train times.
In an interview with CNBC, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, "There is no indication there is an impact" on most US Department of Transportation systems.
Paris Olympics
The Paris Olympics, which start next week on July 26, said its IT services were affected—although most were related to the delivery of uniforms and credits. The organization said in a press release that the ticketing and venue preparation system "continues normally."
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