Washington, July 19 – On Friday, a massive tech outage caused widespread chaos, grounding flights and disrupting banking, medical services, and some media outlets. This global disruption was due to a bug in a software update from CrowdStrike, a well-known cybersecurity company that protects against hackers and cyberattacks. The problem primarily affected systems running Microsoft’s Windows operating system.
Around 1,400 flights were delayed or canceled worldwide, leaving many travelers stranded and airports in disarray.
The White House quickly addressed the situation. President Joe Biden was informed about the outage, and his team immediately reached out to CrowdStrike and the affected organizations. A White House spokesperson stated, “We are getting updates from various sectors throughout the day and are ready to provide help if needed.”
George Kurtz, the CEO of CrowdStrike, posted on X (formerly Twitter) to explain the situation. He said, “We are working with our customers who were impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.” He reassured everyone that Mac and Linux systems were not affected and clarified that this was not a security breach or a cyberattack. “The problem has been identified, isolated, and fixed. Customers should check our support portal for the latest updates and ensure they are communicating with our representatives through official channels,” Kurtz added.
Microsoft also responded, saying, “We are investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”
This significant outage reminds us of how crucial cybersecurity is and how important it is to have quick response plans to handle such disruptions. Efforts are ongoing to return everything to normal, and the situation is being closely monitored to ensure that services are restored as soon as possible.