Huge Microsoft Windows outage disrupts services globally

A blue screen of death on Windows 11.

What you need to know

• A global disruption is causing "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD) errors on Windows PCs, affecting essential services like financial institutions, air travel, media, retail, rail services, and emergency response networks.
• The disruption stems from a flawed CrowdStrike update, causing Windows PCs to enter a reboot loop.
• Microsoft acknowledges the disruption and expects a quick fix, but CrowdStrike needs to resolve the issue.

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A global wave of disruptions is crippling essential services due to a widespread Microsoft Windows malfunction causing the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD) errors.

Critical sectors like financial institutions, air travel, media, retail, rail services, and emergency response networks, including the US 911 system and Australia's government calls for emergency meetings, are severely impacted, according to The Spectator Index.

The global disruption is due to a botched update from CrowdStrike, causing Windows PCs and servers to get stuck in a reboot loop, The Washington Post reports. Many businesses worldwide rely on CrowdStrike for managing the security of their Windows PCs and servers.

Microsoft said it recognizes the ongoing disruption and expects a quick fix, as reported by Windows Central. However, it's up to CrowdStrike to resolve the issue.

In response to the global outage, George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, released a statement acknowledging the disruption and confirming that they are working with customers to restore systems.

CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We…July 19, 2024

"CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts," Kurtz wrote in a post on X. "Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted."

Kurtz emphasized that this incident is not a security breach or cyberattack. Fortunately, CrowdStrike quickly identified the problematic update and implemented a rollback. The company has also provided a temporary solution for those experiencing system disruptions:

1. "Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment
2. "Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory
3. "Locate the file matching 'C-0000029*.sys', and delete it.
4. "Boot the host normally."

That said, with machines affected globally, fixing this issue will take a lot of time, even though a solution is available.

How does this outage impact your Android phone?

CrowdStrike's security tools, like CrowdStrike Falcon, help organizations see threats in real-time. This lets the firm act quickly to put strong security measures in place, giving it a big advantage in the constantly changing world of cybersecurity.

The current outage only affects CrowdStrike on Windows systems. Other tools, like Falcon for Mobile, are still fully operational. It's designed to spot threats on iOS and Android phones, offer real-time insights, and close security gaps that could lead to breaches.

CrowdStrike's flawed update only affects Windows PCs, but since many businesses run on Windows, it could cause problems today. You might not be able to board your flight or pay for your prescription at the pharmacy with your phone, which has become pretty standard.