CrowdStrike Microsoft Global Outage

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CROWDSTRIKE I crashed them all CROWDSTRIKE and not just their computers CROWDSTRIKE but their servers CROWDSTRIKE and their backup servers too

YOUR BOEING FLIGHT CAN'T CRASH MIDAIR IF IT CAN'T EVEN TAKE OFF Opening Mon Tue-Thur DUE TO THE CROWDSTRIKE GLITCH

Dion Almaer @dalmaer Comcast just emailed saying that they are safe from CrowdStrike because they run DOS. And SouthWest said they got lucky by running Windows 3.11 for Workgroups, Phew. Traducir post 1:09 p. m. - 19 jul. 2024 - 15,7 mil Reproducciones 21 Reposts 6 Citas 171 Me gusta 8 Elementos guardados 27 Σ 8 <]

TECHNOLOGY | INSIDE SCOOP CrowdStrike Insiders Sold Stock Before the Outage. How That Happened. By Ed Lin Follow July 19, 2024, 5:42 pm EDT Share AA Resize Reprints

COMPUTERS AROUND THE WORLD GETTING READY TO START THE NEW DAY CROWDSTRIKE CYBERSECURITY UPDATE BSOD'S GLOBAL COMPUTERS imgflip.com

Looks like your computer is taking this time to have a break, and so should you! KitKatⓇ anyone? Kickat Kitkat Kickat Kitkat

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About

CrowdStrike Microsoft Global Outage refers to a global Microsoft computer system outage in mid-July 2024 that resulted from a CrowdStrike update. CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity software used by numerous Fortune 500 companies including banks, airlines and healthcare providers, and its recent update interacted with Windows systems in a way that made them get stuck in a reboot loop. The resulting global Windows outage saw people making memes and jokes about being affected or unaffected by the outage, with jokes about having to go to work because Windows Teams and Outlook weren't affected making the rounds as well. Vincent Flibustier's 'First Day at CrowdStrike' Tweet was one example in which the Twitter / X user faked being fired by CrowdStrike.

Background

In the early hours of July 19th, 2024, various Windows users around the globe began to report technical issues after updating their cybersecurity software, CrowdStrike. The bug caused Windows systems to get stuck in an endless reboot cycle, which appears on the screen as a deep blue loading page (also known as the "Blue Screen Of Death" or "BSOD").

One of the earliest reports on the Windows system outage came from Microsoft Regional Director and X^[1] / Twitter user @TroyHunt after midnight early on July 19th. He created a thread of various countries and agencies reporting issues with their systems (seen below), which included reports from India and Japan, as well as media corporations like SkyNews and airports.

Troy Hunt @troyhunt .7h The issue is worldwide: sky news We apologise for the interruption to this broadcast. We hope to restore the transmission of Sky News shortly. Sky News goes off-air and as TV channel is hit by technical issues elac news 06.00 NG NEWS From dailymail.co.uk Donald Trimna hamill thrine hook the American Dream" during his one 16 Troy Hunt 1182 @troyhunt .7h 1.3K Hearing multiple reports of a Crowdstrike agent issue Matt George @mattygeorge 7h Replying to @troyhunt Apparently crowdstrike agent 14 1765 Troy Hunt @troyhunt .7h Airports down Mike Manrod 351K 1K ılı 496K @CroodSolutions .7h Replying to @troyhunt Same here - extremely widespread. Airports are down. 11 2774 884 483K □ ↑

Also early on July 19th, 2024, Redditor^[2] /u/Mr-EdwardsBeard posted to /r/news about major American airlines being grounded as a result of the outage, gathering over 11,000 upvotes in a day (seen below).

r/news 6 hr. ago Mr-EdwardsBeard United, Delta and American Airlines issue global ground stop on all flights Title Changed by Site abcnews.go.com 12K 2.2K abc NEWS BREAKING NEWS Share Open

• T_O_beats 3h ago Say it with me now 4.2K + 46 more replies - 'We don't push code on Friday' Reply Award Share SecretJutsuBongCloud .5h ago Fedex is completely down. 2.1K Reply Award Share jmaneater 4h ago Ups too 791 Reply Award Share ④+ 34 more replies + 13 more replies CapriciousManchild 5h ago I feel for all my IT brethren tomorrow it will be hell 2.9K +139 more replies Reply 1520xPhoenix • 5h ago Award ✓ Share I've been in the airport for 14 hours now watching flights get gradually delayed longer and longer until they finally grounded them at about 1am Dallas time (not my local time zone sorry). It's been rough, passengers are out for blood and furious, and I think the mania is starting to set in ② 3.8K Reply > Award + 162 more replies Share

Developments

Early on July 19th, 2024, CrowdStrike CEO @George_Kurtz posted to his X^[3] account saying that the outage was a result of a "defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts," and assuring users that a fix had been deployed. The post gathered over 14,000 likes in a day (seen below).

George Kurtz @George_Kurtz 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 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. 5:45 AM • Jul 19, 2024 3.5M Views

The CEO went on to apologize to all his users, further clarifying the bug that caused the outage. Sky News, one of the media companies that experienced a blackout due to the outage, uploaded the video to its YouTube^[8] channel, gathering over 38,000 views in a day (seen below).

Deleting "C-00000291*.sys" As A Possible Fix

Some X users posted about how the issue could be fixed by deleting the file causing the bug. X^[9] user @brody_n77 made a post on July 19th, 2024, saying that deleting the "C-00000291*.sys" in the Windows CrowdStrike folder would resolve the issue, while another X^[10] user @russelljkaplan lamented about how his airline desk clerk would not let him try the fix on their computer (seen below).

$Brody @brody_n77 There is a faulty channel file, so not quite an update. There is a workaround... 1. Boot Windows into Safe Mode or WRE. 2. Go to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike 3. Locate and delete file matching "C-00000291*.sys" 4. Boot normally. 1/2 2:30 AM ⚫ Jul 19, 2024 897K Views$

Russell Kaplan @russelljkaplan Trying to convince the United gate agent to let me reboot Windows in safe mode and delete "C-00000291*.sys", to no avail 7:41 AM • Jul 19, 2024 812.2K Views

Vincent Flibustier "First Day at CrowdStrike" Tweet

Vincent Flibustier 'First Day at CrowdStrike' Tweet refers to a Twitter / X post reading, "First day at Crowdstrike, pushed a little update and taking the afternoon off ✌️" posted by user Vincent Flibustier (@vinceflibustier) who alleged to be a former CrowdStrike employee who was fired for implementing the update that caused the Microsoft outage. Flibustier's pictured in a blue hoodie, giving the camera a peace sign and a duck face, seemingly located at the CrowdStrike headquarters. Flibustier's tweet was satire as he's never been employed by CrowdStrike. Flibustier instead runs the parody news site Nordpresse. Regardless, the post amassed millions of views after its upload, generating memes and interest.

Vincent Flibustier @vinceflibustier ... First day at Crowdstrike, pushed a little update and taking the afternoon off 5:39 AM Jul 19, 2024 10.9M Views • CROWDSTRIKE

Online Reactions

Many internet users posted about how the outage affected them or their work on July 19th, 2024, with X^[4] user @akothari posting an image of a handwritten boarding pass he was handed in India, gathering over 47,000 likes in a day (seen below, left). Meanwhile, X^[5] user @cb_doge posted an image of the MSG Sphere with the Microsoft loading screen on it, gathering over 80,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).

Akshay Kothari 向 @akothari The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today goindigo.in Toll free 1 800 180 38 38 Call 0 99 10 38 38 38 Name AKShay Kothal From HYD Flight #66376 Boarding Time Sequence # AVIATIO To CCU Date 191724 INTERNATIONA Departure Time 11.55 Seat # 25F K3VLN ou for choosing IndiGo today. Please be at your departure gate at the indicated boarding time. Any passenger failing to do so may be boarding privileges. Frisking passengers and checking of hand baggage is a mandatory procedure. Passengers are requested to co-operate Go's Security Services Team. Have a pleasant fight 1000064 3:34 AM ⚫ Jul 19, 2024 • 5.1M Views . IndiGo Name Dat 7 Akshay Ko FYD CCU 66376 197124 Boarding Time Departure Time Sequence 11.55 Gate Seal 8903

colecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you. our device ran into a problem and needs to restart. We're just O complete t

Many internet users posted memes making fun of Microsoft in the early hours of July 19th, as seen in a /r/shitposting^[6] post and another tweet by user @cb_doge^[7] (seen below).