On Friday, the world woke up to a computer blackout that shook several global industries such as banking, aviation, healthcare and the media.
Cancelled flights, the inability to make online purchases and interrupted communications have been the main consequences.
US company Crowdstrike, which specialises in IT security for high-profile companies, has admitted that a software update is the main cause of the computer outage.
The update affected devices running the Windows operating system, Microsoft’s flagship product.
Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz said in a statement that the problems were caused by a “defect” in a “content update” for Windows devices.
“The problem has been identified, isolated and a solution has been implemented,” he said, although he clarified that It could be “a while” before all systems are back up and running.
According to Kurtz, “this is not a security incident or a cyber attack.”
Few clients, high impact
This computer outage is a small reminder of the complexity of modern digital infrastructure.
While Crowdstrike is not a well-known company, it is at the center of a problem that has affected tens of thousands of people around the world.
It was founded in 2011 and is estimated to have around 24,000 clients, some of which are the largest companies on the planet.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it employs nearly 8,500 people and has been listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange since 2019.
In fact, Crowdstrike shares fell by 14% in the first hours of the outage. Microsoft shares also fell, as did those of companies in the tourism and travel sector, which have been the hardest hit so far.
For example, at about 3:00 pm GMT there was Around 3,340 flights cancelled worldwideor around 3% of all scheduled services, according to information from aviation data company Cirium.
As a cybersecurity services provider, Crowdstrike is often called upon to deal with the aftermath of hacking attacks.
She has been involved in investigations into several high-profile cyber attacks.such as when Sony Pictures suffered a hack of its computer systems in 2014.
In 2016, the US Democratic Party hired the company to investigate a failure in its computer network.
But this time, because of a faulty update to your software, A company that is normally part of the solution to technology and information problems became the source of them.
What the company says
According to Kurtz’s statement, “Crowdstrike is actively working with affected customers,” meaning those running Windows. Mac and Linux servers were not affected.
Each of Crowdstrike’s customers is a massive organization in itself.making it difficult to estimate the number of individual computers affected by Friday’s outage.
The company acknowledged that “it might take some time” to get systems up and running again.
It is even likely that the solution has to be applied separately to each and every affected devicewhich will cause a huge headache for technology departments around the world.
“We deeply regret the impact we have caused to customers, to travelers and to anyone affected by this,” Kurtz said in an interview with the American channel NBC News.
Microsoft, for its part, also issued a statement: “We are aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update to a third-party software platform.”
The company adds that the solution “is yet to come” and has suggested turning the devices on and off up to 15 times to achieve normal operation.
However, personal devices (such as a home computer or mobile phone) are unlikely to have been affected by the computer outage.