Cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike initiated a series of computer system outages across the world on Friday, July 19, disrupting nearly every industry and sowing chaos at airports, financial institutions, and healthcare systems, among others.
At issue was a flawed update to CrowdStrike Falcon, the company’s popular endpoint detection and response (EDR) platform, which crashed Windows machines and sent them into an endless reboot cycle, taking down servers and rendering ‘blue screens of death’ on displays across the world.
How did the CrowdStrike outage unfold?
Australian businesses were among the first to report encountering difficulties on Friday morning, with some continuing to encounter difficulties throughout the day. Travelers at Sydney Airport experienced delays and cancellations. At 6pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (08:00 UTC), Bank Australia posted an announcement to its home page saying that its contact center services were still experiencing problems.
Businesses across the globe followed suit, as their days began. Travelers at airports in Hong Kong, India, Berlin, and Amsterdam encountered delays and cancelations. The Federal Aviation Administration reported that US airlines grounded all flights for a period of time, according to the New York Times.
Source:: Network World