Global Microsoft Meltdown Tied to Bad Crowdstrike Update

A software update that was not up to date from the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike has crippled thousands of Microsoft Windows computers across the world today, affecting everything from airline travel to banks to hospitals and companies online.

A faulty software update from cybersecurity vendor Crowdstrike crippled countless Microsoft Windows computers across the globe today, disrupting everything from airline travel and financial institutions to hospitals and businesses online. Crowdstrike said a fix has been deployed, but experts say the recovery from this outage could take some time, as Crowdstrike’s solution needs to be applied manually on a per-machine basis.

 

A photograph that was taken in San Jose International Airport today displays the hated Microsoft “Blue Screen of Death” all over the world. Credit: Twitter.com/adamdubya1990

A few hours ago, an infected update issued by Crowdstrike caused Windows computers running the program to show the dreadful “Blue Screen of Death,” making these systems temporarily inoperable. Like many security applications, Crowdstrike requires deep hooks to your Windows operating system to defend against digital attackers. in this environment, even a minor code error could cause catastrophic results.

In a tweet via Twitter/X Crowdstrike Chief Executive Officer George Kurtz stated that an update to fix the error in coding was released, and the Mac as well as Linux systems aren’t affected.

“This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” Kurtz declared on Twitter Echoing the written statement of Crowdstrike. “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

In a tweet to Twitter/X The director of Crowdstrike’s operation to hunt down threats stated that the solution is to boot Windows in Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) by delete this file “C-00000291*.sys” and then restarting the machine.

The software issue could be compounded by a recent string of problems with Microsoft’s Azure cloud services, The New York Times reports however it’s uncertain if the Azure issues are connected to the bad Crowdstrike update. Update, 4:03 p.m. ET Microsoft says the Azure issues today are not related to the poor Crowdstrike update.

 

A reader tweeted this picture from earlier this morning in the vicinity of Denver International Airport. Credit: Twitter.com/jterryy07

Matt Burgessat Wired writes that in the health or emergency service, numerous medical professionals around the world have complained about problems with their Windows-linked systems. publishing news on social media, or sites they have created.

“The US Emergency Alert System, which issues hurricane warnings, said that there had been various 911 outages in a number of states,” Burgess wrote. “Germany’s University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein said it would cancel some non-urgent procedures at two locations. In Israel more than 12 hospitals have been affected, along with pharmacies. According to reports, ambulances are being diverted to medical facilities that are not affected.”

The United Kingdom, NHS England has confirmed that the appointment system and record of patient systems are affected due to the downtimes.

“One hospital has declared a ‘critical’ incident after a third-party IT system it used was impacted,” Wired reports. “Also in the country, train operators have said there are delays across the network, with multiple companies being impacted.”

The reactions to today’s outage were rapid and brutal via social networks, filled with photos of passengers at airports being with computer screens that displayed an error message that reads Microsoft blue error. Many users on Twitter/X criticized their Crowdstrike CEO for not taking the time to express his regrets over the disruptive incident, while others warned that failing to do so could put the company at risk of lawsuits.

In the meantime, the global Windows downtime quickly turned into the top talked about topic on Twitter/X, where artificial intelligence bots compiled an assortment of parodies of cybersecurity experts who claimed to be in their first week at Crowdstrike. Incredibly,Twitter/X’s AI summarized these sarcastic posts into a sunny, can-do story about Crowdstrike that was promoted as the top discussion on Twitter this morning.

“Several individuals have recently started working at the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike and have expressed their excitement and pride in their new roles,” the AI summary said. “They have shared their experiences of pushing code to production on their first day and are looking forward to positive outcomes in their work.”

 

The most talked about story of the day on Twitter/X as beautifully presented by the X AI bots.

This is a story that is evolving. Keep an eye out for updates.