Global Tech Chaos: CrowdStrike & Microsoft create Worldwide Outage

What happened?

We’re possibly looking at what might be the largest IT outage in history.

Today, CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, is gaining unexpected attention from people beyond the tech sector, and unfortunately, it’s not for positive reasons. Simultaneously, Microsoft is facing criticism for widespread network disruptions. As of Friday morning, there’s confusion surrounding which company is responsible for which issues, creating a complex and unclear situation in the tech world.

Airlines Affected

The airline industry, known for its complex and often inflexible networks, was severely impacted by the disruptions. On Friday morning, several major airlines including KLM and American Airlines, and airports, including Zurich and Schiphol, found their operations significantly hampered.

German Hospitals Cancel Operations

Apparently two hospitals in the northern German cities of Luebeck and Kiel have cancelled elective operations scheduled for Friday.

Corporate Chaos

Beyond the skies, the outage has hit offices and businesses hard. Companies relying on Microsoft’s suite of products and services have found themselves grappling with reduced productivity as essential tools became inaccessible. Banks and other financial institutions have also reported difficulties, underscoring the far-reaching consequences of this technological meltdown

The CrowdStrike Connection

While initial reports focused on Microsoft, it soon became clear that CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, was also at the center of the storm. Some sources suggest that the outages could be related to a CrowdStrike security tool, adding another layer of complexity to the situation.

Microsoft’s Response

Microsoft has acknowledged the issues, with users around the world reporting problems accessing various services. The tech giant has been working to resolve the outages, but as of the latest updates, many users were still experiencing difficulties.

A “not so convenient” quick fix

A CrowdStrike engineer provided a potential solution on the company’s official subreddit. The proposed fix involves a series of manual steps: affected Windows systems must be booted into Safe Mode or the Recovery Environment, followed by navigating to a specific CrowdStrike directory, deleting a particular .sys file, and then rebooting the system.

While this workaround might prove effective, it cannot be implemented through remote network updates. Consequently, resolving the issue across numerous affected systems will likely require extensive hands-on effort from IT teams.

The problem with this temporary fix is that is has to be applied manually to every impacted system.

A fair warning

As tech teams work around the clock to resolve the issues, this incident serves as a stark reminder of our dependence on digital infrastructure. It raises important questions about redundancy, disaster recovery, and the need for robust backup systems in our increasingly connected world.

The full extent of the damage caused by this outage, both in terms of economic impact and data integrity, will likely take weeks or even months to fully assess. For now, businesses and individuals alike are adapting as best they can, eagerly awaiting a return to digital normalcy.

Please note that as the situation is already being exploited by cyber criminals posing as CrowdStrike Support, be informed that no one from CrowdStrike will get in contact with you regarding this issue. Do not voluntarily give away any credentials, passwords, etc. to those callers.