Falcon Content Update Affecting Windows Computers Bringing Blue Screen of Death All Over the World
How a security update affects numerous companies and airlines in one single day and delays multiple flights and businesses.
July 19, 2024
Reading Time: 3 minutes
It was just a regular day on July 19, 2024. As Microsoft Windows users are already aware of automatic security and software updates, it's just as usual where users are on their day to day business job. But then a lot of business operators are shocked by the appearance of the infamous "Blue Screen of Death" in not just a few computers but all around the World!
Blue Screen of Death
The Blue Screen of Death, affectionately known as the BSOD, is like the digital equivalent of a cosmic hiccup. It’s that unsettling moment when your Windows PC throws its hands up in despair and says, “I give up!”.
Why It Happens?
Something has gone haywire in your system. Maybe a driver misbehaved, memory got tangled, or cosmic rays conspired against you (okay, maybe not cosmic rays, but you get the idea).
What It Means?
Your PC is in distress. It’s like when you’re trying to juggle too many tasks at once, and suddenly everything crashes. The BSOD is Windows’ way of saying, “Houston, we have a problem.”
What Has Been The Damage?
There are no official estimated of cost of damage yet as of today but it was reported by many news stations that many airlines and railways are affected and business operations hampered. Some banks are also affected specially online and some credit card transaction.
Some of the countries affected are India and the Philippines and others as well.
How Did This Happen?
First of all, this is not a security incident or hacking attack. This was caused by an update pushed by the a company named CrowdStrike to one of their content update.
A statement was issued by the company on July 19, 2024 at 9:22am Eastern Time.
"Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.
We are working hard to provide comprehensive and continuous updates with our global customers as quickly as possible. Below is the latest CrowdStrike Tech Alert with more information about the issue and workaround steps organizations can take. We will keep this page updated with new information as it’s available."
Users of Linux distros and MacOS are not affected by the incident.
Crowdstrike also released some workarounds that can be read on their website https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/statement-on-windows-sensor-update/.
Conclusion
A fixed has been deployed immediately by the company to their customers. However, what now? What about the affected businesses, their transactions. The passengers of airlines and railways that were delayed because of the said problem? We hope that all will be fixed so as to reduce the possible damages.
Also this is a calling for software developers out there to be very strict on the implementation and coverage of software testing to avoid deployment mistakes in the production specially on these king of products where the software are forcedly updated to the systems.