Bad CrowdStrike Update Linked to Major IT Outages Worldwide

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Security Week

July 19, 2024


CrowdStrike launched an investigation after receiving widespread reports of Windows hosts experiencing a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). In the latest update provided at the time of writing the company said it’s in the process of reverting changes that may have caused the issue.

The BSOD appears to be caused by a recent CrowdStrike Falcon sensor update. Impacted devices are reportedly entering BSOD loops that make them inoperable. A workaround that involves booting systems in Safe Mode and deleting a CrowdStrike component is being recommended.

CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, said in a statement on the social media platform X that the problems are caused 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,” Kurtz added.

Organizations around the world have been reporting major outages, including airports, banks, media outlets and hospitals. However, at least some of these incidents appear to stem from a Microsoft cloud service outage that is not related to CrowdStrike. Some news websites appear to be mixing the two incidents.

Read more: https://www.securityweek.com/major-outages-worldwide-linked-to-bsod-caused-by-bad-crowdstrike-update/

[hlthe2b]

1. In what alternate universe is a tech component called CROWDSTRIKE singly able to take down networks worldwide?

CROWDSTRIKE? REALLY? By inept attempts to update their software? REALY?

I don't want to know more details or justification about this Microsoft-linked component. I'm just saying it could not be more ridiculous if it were Hollywood film-making. CROWDSTRIKE?

[Best_man23]

4. Crowdstrike makes cybersecurity software

That software, like Norton, Bitdefender, etc., installs itself pretty deeply into a computer's operating system. If an update for such software fails, the resulting failure can potentially take a computer (or network) down as well. I've had Windows installs get borked by a failed antivirus software (AVG).

Yes, it can result in BSOD on Windows systems.

[iluvtennis]

16. Cybersesecurity software that causes outages like this - seriously?? n/t

[louis-t]

22. Norton and McAfee always let viruses into my computer.

I got rid of them and went back to Windows Defender and have not had an issue since.

[wolfie001]

24. BSOD

[BumRushDaShow]

27. I remember it used to be a "thing" where people would post pics of BSODs

on pay phones or even ATMs!

[wolfie001]

32. I had a slower computer and.....

....when I upgraded to Edge, I got that screen EVERY TIME I turned on my VPN. Too funny, cheers.

[DiamondShark]

18. Would you prefer SkyNet. n/t

[hlthe2b]

19. Why would I?

CROWDSTRIKE is so ironically "on the 'nose'" but I prefer no single integrative software to have this much concurrent worldwide reach as to be able to devastate systems everywhere at a single moment (and human or AI-generated error) in time.

[DiamondShark]

25. Oh, I forgot, they changed the name to Legion in the latest movies. n/t

[IronLionZion]

30. Because they are the current market leader for endpoint security

Years ago it may have been McAfee or Norton or some similar company. The impact is global today because Crowdstrike is used in so many businesses and governments.

Our own Democratic party has hired them to investigate Russian hacking

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrowdStrike

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Also, it's been a long time since I saw a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

I thought that went away with Windows XP or something like that.

And good morning.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. LOL

I was surprised to see the term used again. I remember back to the Windoze NT days and BSODs.



And top 'o a "much cooler" morning to you!

[angrychair]

12. Windows NT

I remember those days. Dr. Watson errors were a thing in WinNT. The most useless and cryptic error messages ever.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. The days before

Windoze 2000.

[JoseBalow]

31. I set that as a screensaver on my coworker's PCs

[DiamondShark]

20. Windows 7 and Windows 10 BSOD were common where I worked.

Most on Windows 7 were from hardware failures, inconsistent voltages caused by bad capacitors. Windows 10 were bad drivers, beta drivers, using Windows 7 drivers. 2020 Covid-19 gave us the IT budget to replace thousands of PCs that had been running since 2005 or earlier.

[moniss]

3. Amazingly when you tell companies like this to

test run their "update" on an off-line in house system that is like what their customers use they look at you in stunned silence as though you have posed an unsolvable riddle from ancient times. Instead they roll out whatever and when the customers hit the bugs and can't log-in, can't get the system to function etc. then they go into action with their first line of defense being excuses. Sometimes they even take the approach of blaming the user.

[Lucky Luciano]

7. They probably have unit tests, regression tests, integration tests, and live tests as described...

Perfect test coverage is probably impossible. That this is the only major incident they have had indicates significant amount of test coverage. There would be a lot more outages if there were minimal testing.

Also, if it was a Heisenbug, those are super hard to test for as they can only occur somewhat randomly…probably not the case here because the bug was pretty damn deterministic by knocking everything out!

[iluvtennis]

15. Also, testing on a hot standby production system would have help. Don't get me wrong all of the unit, integration, and

regression testing is good...but these corporations need to bring up pre-production systems and host stand-by production systems where the changes are rolled out and testing on them for 24 to 48 hours before rolling the changes to production.

Corporations spend some of those BIG profits you've made over the last several years on expanding your full bodied pre-production testing systems.

[Jilly_in_VA]

5. It's a good day

to be a Mac girl and an Apple user! By the time I got online at 6{50 am EST, no ptoblem.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Well it was not so much a personal computer issue

but much more.

One of my sisters just flew home last evening from Boston after a work-related trip and as I heard early this morning, there were (and perhaps still are) airports on a GROUND STOP due to this, with people who are trapped at airports (worldwide) having waited for hours and hours for some kind of resolution.

[Miguelito Loveless]

17. You mean airlines finally got rid of their 1970s

SABRE software? Next you will tell me NORAD is no longer using 8" floppy disks to launch nuclear missiles, with a password of "0000".

[Javaman]

9. Can't work. I have a Mac but connect via a windows portal to work.

sounds like a 3 day weekend! woo hoo!!!

[BumRushDaShow]

14. One of my sisters texted this morning about the same issue

unable to remote-in for work. She's hoping for a half-day off.

[Emile]

11. Kick

[dalton99a]

21. .

[C Moon]

23. All flights out of Southern California are shut down because of this.

Don’t know for how long.

https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/flights-grounded-socal-airports-amid-global-internet-outage

[MontanaMama]

26. Sitting in the Denver airport now...

This is an epic mess.

[BumRushDaShow]

29. Oh no!

[jmowreader]

28. The ironic part in all this...

...is that what CrowdStrike is for is to stop things like this from happening.

[IbogaProject]

33. Since this is a quiet Friday in July I think this is a Back to the Office scheme

Maybe the overlords want us all back in the office and this is just part of their efforts to denigrate remote work productivity? Partly in jest but partly "we can't always be sure" what is really happening nor why.

[truddy777]

34. Irony

Last edited Tue Aug 13, 2024, 09:42 AM - Edit history (1)

Ironic, but it was their job to prevent this kind of thing from happening. Now, they're getting sued for this. This law firm mentions that some lawsuits are already in process.