A suspected technical issue at cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike is causing mass IT outages across the world, disrupting critical sectors such as airlines, banks, media and retailing.
The issue appears to concern an update to CrowdStrike’s security platform Falcon Sensor, which is impacting Microsoft Windows operating systems. Reports suggest the affected systems are struggling to boot correctly, causing a bluescreen error to appear.
In a statement on X (formerly Twitter) at 10.45am BST, CrowdStrike President and CEO George Kurtz said the firm was actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.
He emphasized the issue is not related to a cyber-incident, and has been identified, isolated and fixed.
"We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers," said Kurtz.
The Flacon Sensor is a single, lightweight sensor that is cloud-managed and delivered.
It is offered as a purpose-built solution that is used to prevent all types of cyber-attacks, including malware.
CrowdStrike literature explains that it blocks attacks on your systems while capturing and recording activity as it happens to detect threats fast.
Speaking to Infosecurity, Brian Honan, CEO of BH Consulting, said there appears to be two major issues impacting IT operations globally – the CrowdStrike fault and a separate Microsoft Azure outage in the US.
Both of these problems are impacting companies either directly through their own systems and applications being affected, or by organizations within their supply chain suffering outages as a result of one or both of these issues.
Big Brands Impacted by IT Outages
Microsoft users in Australia were the first to report outages on July 19, with well-known companies such as Woolworths, ANZ, Visa, Netflix and Vodafone, among many others, reportedly affected.
Courts around Australia were forced to close early due to their systems being completely shut down.
Australian National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuiness sent a post on X, stating the government were aware of the large-scale technical outage.
“Our current information is this outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by the affected companies,” she wrote.
McGuinness added: “There is no information to suggest it is a cyber security incident. We continue to engage across key stakeholders.”
Organizations in the US, UK, Germany, South America New Zealand and the UK have since reported outages. Planes from major airlines have been grounded because of the issue including American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines.
UK rail operator Thameslink also said it is experiencing widespread IT issues across its entire network, leading to potential short-notice cancellations.
Media broadcaster Sky News was reportedly unable to broadcast and is now showing pre-recorded content.
Workarounds to the CrowdStrike Issue
CrowdStrike’ Director of Threat Hunting Brody Nisbet described the problem as a “faulty channel file” in a post on X, and offered a workaround users could put in place.
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