Microsoft Worldwide Outage: A Faulty Update
Written & Edited By: Cristina Martinez & Mohit Prathipati — Editorial Co-Directors, NexStudent Network
On July 19th, Microsoft experienced a widespread outage due to a faulty software update from a third-party company. This outage caused millions of devices to stop working. It impacted not only devices but also aircraft, businesses, 911 emergency services, and banks. The malfunction affected around 8 million devices, resulting in delays or cancellations of approximately 4000 flights and the disruption of 911 services in several states.
What is the Big Deal?
Microsoft, one of the biggest corporate and tech companies in the world faced an outage, a huge one. This outage disabled millions of devices that are based on Microsoft. All of the devices blurted out, “Your PC ran into a problem”. These devices are mostly business-owned and lent to employees. Close to 4000 flights were delayed or canceled due to, what they call “disruptions”. 911 services were down in many states such as Alaska, New Hampshire, and Texas. This is doubtlessly the biggest outage in the history of the IT industry.
The Origin of the Tech Meltdown
CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, released an update that turned out to be faulty. It has been acknowledged that there is a direct connection with a main product offered by them called Falcon. Falcon’s update wasn’t thoroughly tested and was released to the public. This led to the faulty update entering operating systems with the Falcon platform. Luckily, it only affected Windows users as the product wasn’t used on Mac or Linux operating systems (CrowdStrike). Unfortunately, the Windows users who received the update had to experience a flash of the infamous “blue screen of death”. News of this issue soon became widespread as many social media users uploaded content regarding it. The media coverage promptly led Microsoft to respond and address the users who faced the issue within the day. Microsoft addressed users ensuring “to provide an update on the steps we’ve taken with CrowdStrike and others to remediate and support our customers,” (Microsoft). It was reported that IT personnel from CrowdStrike and Windows started to work on the origin of the problem and help the users who reported issues.
What is CrowdStrike?
CrowdStrike is a Texas-based cybersecurity company founded in 2011. CrowdStrike offers companies security against hackers and breaches. In just about a decade, it became the biggest and most trusted cybersecurity company ranked by the International Data Corporation (IDC) valued at over 83 billion dollars. It has tied up with the biggest tech companies in the world including more than 500 companies from the Fortune 1000 companies! Even with its tremendous cybersecurity background, we can confidently say that even the biggest corporations occasionally take a hit.
The Fallout
This worldwide outage has far-reaching effects. Over 4000 companies associated with CrowdStike were affected resulting in over a billion dollars in loss. This includes various banks, airlines, and tech companies around the globe that rely on cybersecurity. The airline industry bore the brunt of the impact, with thousands of flights grounded due to communication and check-in system failures. Other delays and building irritation within hospitals, banks, and other vital services led to disruptions. There were significant financial losses totaling billions of dollars. Fortunately, Microsoft and CrowdStrike were able to fix the issue within a few days. The domino effect noted is the interconnected nature of modern tech to businesses and government agencies. After all, there is the potential of a future domino effect if our dependence on these interconnected technologies isn’t resolved.
The Next Steps
At the end of the day, it’s important to acknowledge the consequences of living in an interconnected world. As previously mentioned, Microsoft, on the behalf of CrowdStrike, took the initiative to address this issue. While the impacted devices, flights, businesses, and Microsoft 365 eventually resumed normal operations after a few days, the incident prompted Microsoft and its clients to reconsider their cybersecurity strategies and seek new vendors. This incident helps highlight how seemingly minor updates can lead to widespread economic and operational disruptions resulting in millions and billions in loss. It is safe to say that this incident underscores the vulnerability of our digital infrastructure.
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