A massive technological failure has caused chaos in air transport around the world, with banking and health services also severely affected on Friday.
Thousands of flights have been cancelled due to a computer glitch that left many computers with blue screens indicating an error.
At airports around the world there were Long queues, flight delays and cancellations because passengers had to check in manually.
The American company cybersecurity Crowdstrike admitted that the problem was caused by an update to its antivirus software, which is designed to protect Microsoft Windows devices from malicious attacks.
Microsoft has said it is taking “mitigation measures” to deal with “the ongoing impact” of the outage.
Here is a summary of what we know so far.
1. What caused the outage?
This is still not entirely clear.
Crowdstrike is known for producing antivirus software intended to prevent hackers cause these same types of interruptions.
According to company boss George Kurtz, the problems only affect Windows PCs no other operating system, and were caused by a flaw in a recent update.
“The problem has been identified, isolated and a solution has been implemented,” he said.
“This It is not a security incident or a cyber attack“.
It has not yet been revealed what exactly went wrong with the update, but since one possible fix involves deleting a single file, it’s possible that a single malicious file could be the root of all the chaos.
2. When will it be fixed?
It might take some time.
Crowdstrike’s Kurtz told NBC News that the company’s “mission” was to ensure all of its customers fully recovered from the outage.
“We deeply regret the impact that we have caused to customers, travelers and anyone affected by this, including our businesses,” he said.
The entrepreneur later told CNBC that while some systems can be fixed quickly, for others “it could take hours, it could take a bit more time“.
Crowdstrike has published its solution, but according to experts, it will have to apply separately on each of the devices affected.
Computers will require a manual reboot into safe mode, causing a major headache for IT departments everywhere.
3. What is the solution?
One important thing to note here is that personal devices like your home computer or mobile phone are unlikely to have been affected – this outage is affecting businesses.
Microsoft recommends its customers to try a classical method to make things work: turn them off and on againin some cases up to 15 times.
The tech giant said this has worked for some users of virtual machines, meaning a PC where the computer is not in the same location as the screen.
“Several reboots may be necessary (reported up to 15), but the general response is that reboots are an effective troubleshooting step at this stage,” he said.
It also told customers with deeper computer knowledge that they should delete a certain file — the same solution that one CrowdStrike employee has been sharing on social media.
But this solution is intended to IT experts and professionalsnot to regular users.
4. Which airports have been affected?
Problems have emerged around the world, but were first noticed in Australia and felt most severely in the air travel industry, with More than 3,000 flights cancelled worldwide.
UK airports suffered delays, with long queues at Stansted and Gatwick in London.
Ryanair said it had been “forced to cancel a small number of flights.” British Airways also cancelled several flights.
Several US airlines, notably United, Delta and American Airlines, suspended flights worldwide for much of Friday.
Australian airlines Virgin Australia and Jetstar also had to delay or cancel flights.
Airports in Tokyo, Amsterdam and Delhi were also affected.
Meanwhile, problems have also affected the payment systems, banking and healthcare providers of all the world.
Rail companies, including Britain’s largest, which operates Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern, have warned passengers there will be delays.
In alaska, the 911 emergency service was affected, while British television channel Sky News was off the air for several hours on Friday morning, unable to broadcast.
5. How could it affect me?
The disruption could also affect people who they can’t get paid on time.
Melanie Pizzey, UK director of the Global Payroll Association, told the PA news agency she had been contacted by “numerous clients” who were unable to access their payroll software.
He said the disruption could mean businesses are unable to process payments to staff this week, but there could also be a domino effect.
“We could see a delay in processing payrolls by the end of the month, which may delay employees receiving their monthly salaries,” he said.
If you are concerned about your personal devices, we have good news.
The software at the heart of this outage is typically used by businesses, meaning most people’s personal computers won’t be affected.
This means that if you are wondering whether you need to delete a certain file to stop your computer from constantly restarting, the simple answer is no, you don’t need to.
6. What is Crowdstrike?
It is a reminder of the complexity of our modern digital infrastructure that Crowdstrike, a company that is not exactly a household name, could be at the center of such global disarray.
The American firm, based in Austin, Texas, is a publicly traded company and appears on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq high-tech indices.
Like many modern tech companies, it was created relatively recently. It was founded just 13 years agobut has grown to employ nearly 8,500 people.
As cybersecurity service provider, tends to receive requests to deal with the aftermath of hacker attacks.
He has been involved in investigations into several high-profile cyberattacks, including when Sony Pictures’ computer system was hacked in 2014.
But this time, due to a faulty update to its software, a company that It is usually part of the solution to computer problems has been the cause.
In its latest earnings report, Crowdstrike reported a total of nearly 24,000 customerswhich not only indicates the magnitude of the problem, but also the difficulties that its solution could entail.
Each of those clients is a great organization itself, so it is difficult to estimate the number of individual computers affected.
Additional reporting by Imran Rahman-Jones, Liv McMahon and Tiffany Wertheimer.
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- “Fatal error”: Windows computer outage affects airlines, banks and media around the world
- What is Crowdstrike, the cybersecurity software blamed for the global computer blackout