Cyber chaos: Global systems crash linked to CrowdStrike failure
A spokesperson for Australia's Minister of Home Affairs said Friday that a cyber systems failure that paralyzed media, banks, and telecommunications companies appears to be related to an issue with the global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
7:01 AM EDT, July 19, 2024
Bloomberg reported that it is unclear what caused the problems, which coincided with disruptions in Microsoft 365 application services. Several newspapers worldwide reported that at least part of the problems stemmed from a cybersecurity software failure at CrowdStrike Holdings. In a post on X, Australian company AGL Energy Ltd. mentioned that it is experiencing system issues due to a CrowdStrike failure.
The Australian broadcaster ABC also reported that a technical issue, likely related to a software update from the American cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, led to computer failures running Microsoft systems in Australia. Similar problems have been noted in the United States, New Zealand, and many other countries, including Europe.
In the case of failure, computers either restart on their own or display a blue screen error message.
"There was no information to suggest the outage was a cyber security incident," Australia's National Cybersecurity Coordinator announced on the X platform.
CrowdStrike. What kind of company is it?
CrowdStrike is a company specializing in cybersecurity systems. As stated, "CrowdStrike is a pioneer in endpoint protection delivered via the cloud." Banks, airlines, airports, and online publishers, among others, use its cloud services.
CrowdStrike's solutions are described as next-generation antivirus protection based on machine learning, ensuring the prevention of breaches before they occur.
CrowdStrike's headquarters are in Austin, Texas. In 2011, George Kurtz, Dmitri Alperovitch, and Gregg Marston co-founded the company. Two years later, in June 2013, the company launched its first product, CrowdStrike Falcon.
Global outage. where are the problems occurring?
All American Airlines flights have been canceled. Due to possible check-in delays, Ryanair advised passengers to arrive at the airport three hours before their scheduled departure time.
Planes have also been grounded in Sydney and Mumbai, and airports in Berlin are reporting technical issues. Disruptions have also occurred at Edinburgh Airport, where a computer error caused departure screens to malfunction. The departure boards in the main terminal building displayed outdated information about gate numbers and departure times, causing some passengers to miss their flights. A fire alarm was triggered in the main terminal building in the morning, likely due to the same computer error. Edinburgh Airport stated that it is working on resolving the issue.
