Current:Home > FinanceWhat is Crowdstrike? What to know about company linked to global IT outage -FundTrack
What is Crowdstrike? What to know about company linked to global IT outage
View
Date:2025-04-12 20:32:34
A global tech outage disrupted major airlines, media companies, banks, and telecommunications firms worldwide Friday morning.
Australia's government said the outage appeared to be linked to an issue at cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike, which is used by over half of Fortune 500 companies, the U.S. firm said in a promotional video this year.
According to an alert sent by Crowdstrike to its clients and reviewed by Reuters, the company's "Falcon Sensor" software is causing Microsoft Windows to crash and display a blue screen, known informally as the "Blue Screen of Death."
The alert, sent at 1:30 a.m. ET on Friday, also shared a manual workaround to rectify the issue. A Crowdstrike spokesperson did not respond to emails or calls requesting comment.
In a post on X, Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz said the company is "actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts." Kurtz also clarified that the incident is "not a security incident or cyberattack."
In the post, Kurtz says the issue has been identified, a fix has been deployed, and that the company will "continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website." Additionally, Kurtz said the company is "fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike customers."
According to its website, Crowdstrike launched in 2012 and currently has the "world's most advanced cloud-native platform that protects and enables the people, processes and technologies that drive modern enterprise."
Tech outage live updates:Global tech outage grounds flights, hits banks and media businesses
Flight cancellations:Over 670 US flights canceled as global IT outage prompts ground stop
Global tech outage leads to flight cancellations, delays
Air passengers worldwide faced delays, cancellations, and problems checking in as airports and airlines were caught up in the outage.
Several U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, issued ground stops for all their flights early on Friday due to communication problems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
There were over 2,000 flights canceled and more than 6,100 delays as of 1 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Most airlines were able to resume operations as the morning progressed, but many said they expected disruptions to continue throughout the day.
Around the world, airports and airlines advised customers to arrive earlier than normal for flights. Analysts said the outage was likely tied to a glitch in Microsoft software used globally.
Microsoft said users might be unable to access various Office 365 apps and services due to a "configuration change in a portion of our Azure-backed workloads."
Microsoft said in a statement on X that "the underlying cause has been fixed," however, residual impacts continue to affect "some Microsoft 365 apps and services. We're conducting additional mitigations to provide relief."
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on X Friday morning it and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are working with Crowdstrike, Microsoft and federal, state, local and critical infrastructure partners to "fully assess and address system outages."
Outages impacting other industries as well
From the United Kingdom to Singapore, the effects of tech outages were far-reaching on Friday.
British broadcaster Sky News went off-air, and train companies in the U.K. reported long delays. Departure boards at several U.K. airports appeared to freeze, according to passengers who posted reports on social media.
London's Stock Exchange reported experiencing disruptions. Some hospitals also reported difficulties processing appointments and several chain retail stores said they couldn't take payments. The soccer club Manchester United said on X that it had to postpone a scheduled release of tickets.
In Australia, media, banks, and telecoms companies suffered outages.
There was no information to suggest the outage was a cyber security incident, the office of Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuinness said in a post on X.
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said some of its systems were offline due to a worldwide technical outage. It said MTA train and bus services were unaffected.
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard, Christopher Cann, Zach Wichter and Josh Rivera, USA TODAY
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- Mega Millions heats up to an estimated $315 million. See winning numbers for Oct. 3
- Lady Gaga Will Not Have to Pay $500,000 to Woman Charged in Dog Theft
- Monica Lewinsky overcame ‘excruciating shame and pain.’ Now, she’s a voice for anti-bullying.
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Draymond Green says Warriors 'lucky' to have Chris Paul, even if he's 'an (expletive)'
- Global Red Cross urges ouster of Belarus chapter chief over the deportation of Ukrainian children
- Suspect at large after five people injured in shooting at Morgan State University
- Bodycam footage shows high
- 'What in the Flintstones go to Jurassic Park' is this Zillow Gone Wild featured home?
Ranking
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Shares in Scandinavian Airlines plunge to become almost worthless after rescue deal announced
- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker calls migrant influx untenable, intensifying Democratic criticism of Biden policies
- Indian police arrest editor, administrator of independent news site after conducting raids
- Jamie Foxx reps say actor was hit in face by a glass at birthday dinner, needed stitches
- Is your relationship 'toxic' or is your partner just human? How to tell.
- Azerbaijan arrests several former top separatist leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh
- Proof Travis Kelce Is Fearless About Taylor Swift Fan Frenzy
Recommendation
Travis Hunter, the 2
Judge in Trump's New York civil trial issues gag order after Trump posts about clerk
Hunter Biden pleads not guilty at arraignment on felony gun charges
Unless US women fall apart in world gymnastics finals (not likely), expect another title
Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
Florida boy, 11, charged with attempted murder in shooting of 2 children after Pop Warner football practice
Lawsuit: False arrest due to misuse of facial recognition technology
Conservation group Sea Shepherd to help expand protection of the endangered vaquita porpoise