10

Loading video...

Martha McHardy

By Martha McHardy

US News Reporter

0

Share

Newsweek is a Trust Project member

See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.

Microsoft has issued advice to users after a massive outage linked to U.S. cybersecurity company Crowdstrike caused users' systems to suddenly crash.

"We have been made aware of an issue impacting Virtual Machines running Windows Client and Windows Server, running the CrowdStrike Falcon agent, which may encounter a bug check (BSOD) and get stuck in a restarting state," an update posted on the Microsoft Azure website said on Friday morning. "We approximate impact started around 19:00 UTC on the 18th of July."

The company recommended that users who are unable to start their computers restore a backup from before the new update or repair the OS disk offline.

Read More on U.S.

Microsoft advised users to restore from backup files. Alternatively, it said, users can try to repair the OS disk offline, using these instructions:

The notice recommended contacting CrowdStrike if problems persist.

Microsoft added that it is "continuing to investigate additional mitigation options for customers and will share more information as it becomes known."

The outage left Windows 10 users around the world unable to use their computers as they were met with a "blue screen of death."

In a post on its website, CrowdStrike said: "CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows related to the Falcon Sensor."

"Symptoms include hosts experiencing a bugcheckblue screen error related to the Falcon Sensor. Our Engineering teams are actively working to resolve this issue and there is no need to open a support ticket," the company added.

Microsoft

...

In a social media post, Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz said the outage was caused by a "defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts."

He added that the outage was "not a security incident or cyberattack."

"The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed," he wrote.

Kurtz continued: "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."

Amid the outage, tracking website Down Detector registered problems at a vast array of companies, including Delta Airlines, Visa, Mastercard, Lloyds Bank, Santander, Amazon, RyanAir, Sky News, Ladbrokes, BT, and Microsoft Teams

U.S.-based Frontier Airlines also said that the Microsoft outage had affected its systems. "During this time booking, check-in, access to your boarding pass, and some flights may be impacted," the company said on X, formerly Twitter.

Delta, United and American Airlines were all grounded in the U.S., according to the Federal Aviation Authority.

United said in a statement: "A third party software outage is impacting computer systems worldwide, including at United. While we work to restore those systems, we are holding all aircraft at their departure airports. Flights already airborne are continuing to their destinations."

Emergency service call lines have also reportedly been down in several U.S. states, including Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Ohio.

British broadcaster Sky News was temporarily unable to broadcast live on Friday morning. Viewers were presented with an error message stating, "We apologize for the interruption to this broadcast. We hope to restore the transmission of Sky News shortly."

Update 7/19/24, 7:21 a.m.. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

View 0 Comments

Request Reprint & Licensing

Submit Correction

View Editorial & AI Guidelines