CrowdStrike update triggers major global outage affecting businesses
Shafaq News/ On Friday, a major global outage was triggered by an update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, impacting businesses worldwide. The company is currently working to roll back the update that led to widespread technical issues.
CrowdStrike has confirmed that the outage was not the result of a hack or malicious activity.
The disruption was felt across various sectors, with technical problems reported globally. Microsoft's cloud services were notably affected, though it is unclear if this issue was connected to CrowdStrike's update.
CrowdStrike's update issue appears to have caused significant problems with Windows systems, including the infamous "blue screen of death" on laptops. "CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor," the company said in a recorded message.
The outage impacted numerous industries, including airlines, banks, and telecom firms. American Airlines, described as the world's largest, reported a technology issue affecting multiple carriers. Air France-KLM's Dutch arm was forced to suspend most operations. Spain's airport authority, AENA, warned travelers of delays due to a computer system incident, while UK airline Ryanair experienced disruptions from a third-party IT outage.
The financial sector was also hit hard, with the London Stock Exchange reporting technical problems with its data and news platform. Allianz, a major German finance company, confirmed a "major outage impacting employees' ability to log into their computers," linking the issue to CrowdStrike.
NBC Universal also experienced disruptions due to the CrowdStrike update.
In contrast, Baghdad International Airport and other airports in Iraq were unaffected by the global technical issues. Baghdad's airport director, Harith Al-Obaidi, explained that flights at Baghdad Airport were not disrupted because they do not rely on the Microsoft system. Instead, their reservation and issuance systems use the "Amadeus" system, and automated departure systems use the "SITA" system.
