Initial concerns over a potential hack were dismissed, with the cybersecurity company explaining on Friday (July 19) that the issue was not related to any security incident or cyberattack.
The outages were caused by a defect in a single content update for Windows hosts, specifically linked to Falcon Sensor software. This defect led to numerous systems encountering the notorious “blue screen of death.”
Mac and Linux hosts were not affected by this issue.
The impact of the outage has been significant, with major industries such as banking, air travel and healthcare experiencing disruptions. The defect caused critical systems to crash, leading to delays and operational challenges.
In the banking sector, some ATMs and online banking services were temporarily unavailable.
Airlines faced delays and cancelations as their computer systems went offline, while hospitals reported issues with electronic health records and patient management systems. More than 3,300 flights have been canceled worldwide, accounting for about 3 percent of all scheduled services, though not all cancelations may be due to the IT outage.
As businesses continue to recover from the outage, CrowdStrike said it is focused on providing customer support and deploying a fix; it also said systems brought online after the identified issue will not be affected.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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