The global computer outage affecting airports, banks, and other businesses on Friday appears to originate, at least in part, from a software update issued by major US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, as experts told CNN.
CrowdStrike informed customers early Friday that the outages were caused by “a defect found in a single content update of its software on Microsoft Windows operating systems, according to a post on X from CEO George Kurtz.
The company addressed the problem, as per an advisory seen by CNN, instructing customers to reboot their computers and take other necessary actions if they were still experiencing technical difficulties. The issue pertains to Falcon, one of CrowdStrike’s main software products, and does not impact Mac or Linux operating systems, according to the advisory. Crowdstrike states that Falcon is designed to protect files stored in the cloud.
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CrowdStrike’s cybersecurity software—utilized by various Fortune 500 companies, including major global banks, healthcare, and energy companies—detects and thwarts hacking threats. Similar to other cybersecurity products, the software requires deep-level access to a computer’s operating system to detect these threats. In this instance, computers running Microsoft Windows seem to be crashing due to the faulty interaction between a software code update issued by CrowdStrike and the Windows system.
In this photo illustration, a Crowdstrike logo is displayed on a smartphone. The global computer outage affecting airports, banks, and other businesses appears to stem at least partly from a software update issued by major US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, as experts told CNN.
The company clarified that the outage was not due to a security incident or a cyberattack. Kurtz, in his post, confirmed that the issue was identified and isolated, and engineers deployed an update to resolve the problem.
CrowdStrike’s (CRWD) stock dropped by 10% in premarket trading.
What is CrowdStrike known for?
The significant cybersecurity company conducts business globally through software sales and investigations of major hacks.
The company also assists in cybersecurity investigations for the US government. For instance, CrowdStrike has been tracking North Korean hackers for over a decade, according to the company. It was also tasked with monitoring the hacking groups responsible for the 2014 breach at Sony Pictures.
However, CrowdStrike is most notably recognized for its investigation of the Russian hack of Democratic National Committee computers during the 2016 US election. Since 2016, it has been at the center of false conspiracy theories, especially following a White House transcript revealing former President Donald Trump mentioning Crowdstrike in his July 2016 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to his first impeachment.
CrowdStrike was the first to raise concerns about Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, and its assessment was later corroborated by US intelligence agencies.
CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan contributed to this report
