Global Microsoft crash linked to faulty Crowdstrike update – Krebs on Security

A faulty software update from a cybersecurity provider Crowdstrike crippled countless MicrosoftWindows Computers around the world, causing disruptions in everything from air travel and financial institutions to hospitals and online businesses. Crowdstrike said a fix has been deployed, but experts say recovering from this outage could take time because Crowdstrike’s solution must be manually applied to each machine.

Earlier today, a faulty update to Crowdstrike caused Windows machines running the software to display the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death,” rendering those systems temporarily unusable. Like most security programs, Crowdstrike requires deep tucks into the Windows operating system to fend off digital intruders, and in this environment, a small programming error can quickly lead to catastrophic consequences.

In a post on Twitter/X, the CEO of Crowdstrike said George Kurtz said that an update has been released to correct the coding error and that Mac and Linux systems are not affected.

“This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” Kurtz said on Twitter, echoing a written statement from Crowdstrike. “The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix deployed.”

In a post on Twitter/X, Crowdstrike’s head of threat hunting activities explained that the solution is to start Windows in Safe Mode or Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), delete the “C-00000291*.sys” file, and then restart the computer.

The software chaos may have been exacerbated by a series of outages at Microsoft. Azure blue Cloud services, The New York Times Reports, although it remains unclear whether these Azure issues are even related to the faulty Crowdstrike update. Update, 4:03 p.m. ET: Microsoft reports that today’s Azure issues had nothing to do with the faulty Crowdstrike update.

A reader shared this photo taken today at Denver International Airport. Source: Twitter.com/jterryy07

Matt Burgess at Wired writes that various healthcare and emergency medical providers around the world have reported issues with their Windows-based systems and shared the news on social media or their own websites.

“The U.S. Emergency Alert System, which issues hurricane warnings, said there were multiple 911 outages in several states,” Burgess wrote. “Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital said some non-urgent surgeries had to be canceled at two locations. In Israel, more than a dozen hospitals and pharmacies have been affected. Ambulances were reportedly diverted to unaffected medical facilities.”

In the UK, NHS England has confirmed that appointment and patient data systems were affected by the outages.

“One hospital has reported a ‘critical’ incident after a third-party IT system it uses was affected,” Wired reports. “Across the country, rail operators have also reported delays across the network, with several companies affected.”

Reactions to today’s outage were swift and brutal on social media, which was flooded with images of people at airports surrounded by computer screens displaying Microsoft’s blue screen error. Many Twitter/X users chided Crowdstrike’s CEO for not apologizing for the massively disruptive event, while others pointed out that an apology could potentially expose the company to lawsuits.

Meanwhile, the international Windows outage quickly became the most discussed topic on Twitter/X, whose artificial intelligence bots compiled a series of parody posts from cybersecurity experts pretending to be spending their first week on the job at Crowdstrike. Incredibly, Twitter/X’s AI condensed these sarcastic posts into a lighthearted, optimistic story about Crowdstrike that was promoted as the top discussion on Twitter this morning.

“Several people recently started working at cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike and expressed excitement and pride in their new roles,” the AI ​​summary said. “They shared their experiences of moving code into production on day one and are looking forward to seeing positive results from their work.”

The top story of the day on Twitter/X, brilliantly summarised by X’s AI bots.

This story is constantly evolving. Stay tuned for updates.