Tourexpi
On
July 18, a faulty update by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike to its falcon
software triggered a global tech meltdown that impacted around 8.5 million
Windows devices and disrupted critical infrastructure across multiple sectors.
Airlines,
hospitals, and financial systems were affected across an enormous region
spanning the Americas, Europe, and Asia, with many met with the so-called
"blue screen of death" that Microsoft Windows displays when its
system is hit by a critical error.
While
the impact of the ordeal was unprecedented, the lingering effects and wide area
hit have made it difficult to ascertain the exact extent of the harm that was
caused.
CrowdStrike
issued an official blog post to clarify the cause, which was identified as a
problematic update distributed via automatic channels.
What
happened?
The
update incorrectly flagged legitimate activities as threats, leading to
widespread system failures. CrowdStrike addressed the issue by correcting the
update and implementing measures to prevent future occurrences through more
rigorous testing.
Timothy
Lethbridge, a British-Canadian computer science professor at Ottawa University,
confirmed to Anadolu that a coding error in the update was responsible, not a
malicious actor.
"It
turns out that that description had a fault in it. The understanding right now
is that it wasn't a robot or a bad actor or anything like that. It was somebody
made a coding error," Lethbridge explained.
He
noted that the problem stemmed from a faulty description of bad behavior, which
the software is designed to guard against, causing it to crash.
"CrowdStrike
sent one of these new descriptions, these files, to all the computers that are
running their CrowdStrike Falcon software so that they’re all protected,"
Lethbridge said.
The
faulty update, he explained, led to simultaneous failures of all affected
systems.
Financial
impact
The
outage impacted over 1,000 organizations, resulting in a temporary decline in
the stock prices of companies using CrowdStrike services.
Financial
news website MarketWatch reported an average stock price drop of 3% to 5% in
the cybersecurity and technology sectors during the initial days following the
incident.
Bloomberg
estimates global financial losses from business interruptions at least hundreds
of millions of dollars, encompassing lost revenue, increased security costs,
and other operational disruptions.
Health
care disruptions
Besides
financial losses, the outage led to significant delays in electronic health
record systems and telemedicine services.
According
to a report by the website Health IT News, several hospitals experienced
temporary disruptions affecting around 1.5 million patients worldwide.
While
no major incidents of patient harm were reported, The New York Times
highlighted concerns about potential risks due to delays in accessing critical
medical records.
Transportation
problems
UPI
reported that the CrowdStrike outage caused widespread disruptions in air
travel, resulting in thousands of flight cancellations globally, with backlogs
continuing through the week.
Nearly
26,000 flight delays were also reported, it added, with the US experiencing
over 3,000 cancellations and more than 12,000 delays on the first day alone.
Major
airlines like Delta were some of the most heavily affected, with many
reportedly seeking to compensate passengers with travel waivers.
Impact
on daily life
Many
consumer-facing applications and services reliant on CrowdStrike for
cybersecurity faced outages or degraded performance, affecting online shopping,
banking apps, and other digital services.
Major
banks like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and payment card services provider
Visa faced login and payment issues, affecting millions of customers, according
to Peoplemag.
Numerous
other financial institutions and e-wallets globally experienced disruptions,
causing delays in transactions and service accessibility, it added.
Media
and broadcasting services were also hit, with NBC affiliates and Sky News
experiencing blackouts, leaving stations off the air for hours.
Additionally,
billboards in Times Square went blank during the outage, highlighting the
extensive reach of the incident.
The
outage affected not only businesses but also public services, with DMV offices
in several states shutting down temporarily.
The
Guardian reported increased public anxiety and confusion, though the overall
effect on daily routines was relatively contained.
CrowdStrike's
Falcon software
CrowdStrike's
Falcon software is designed to monitor and protect systems from threats using
real-time updates.
Forbes
highlighted Falcon's use of AI and machine learning to mitigate threats.
Lethbridge
elaborated that companies rely on CrowdStrike for continuous protection, though
the faulty update disrupted this protection temporarily.
"CrowdStrike
provided this Falcon software, which is constantly monitoring the computer, but
it's doing it in an interesting way," he said.
The
setup enables CrowdStrike to send real-time updates about newly detected
threats, ensuring continuous protection, he added.
Recovery
According
to Lethbridge, all computers worldwide that were open and using Falcon went
down simultaneously as the automatic update took effect July 18.
“All
the computers running CrowdStrike Falcon software that were live at 4.09 a.m.
(0809GMT) went down simultaneously,” he said, describing the widespread impact.
TechCrunch
reported that CrowdStrike promptly identified and addressed the issue, curbing
the disruption as much as it could.
Recovery
involved manual intervention to restart affected systems and issue a corrected
update. Despite the damage, CrowdStrike has received praise for its transparent
communication and the rapid recovery of many systems, helping maintain customer
confidence.
Technical
and testing challenges
In
the aftermath of the outage, TechRadar uncovered vulnerabilities in the
stability of CrowdStrike's systems when experiencing high traffic.
Meanwhile,
information technology media outlet InfoWorld highlighted issues with testing
new updates and configurations, suggesting that testing protocols and disaster
recovery plans need to be improved.
“There's
always a risk of error, but the risk is supposed to be really reduced by
extensive testing,” Lethbridge warned.
“CrowdStrike
didn't somehow manage to do better testing of this,” he added, suggesting that
improved protocols and internal simulations could prevent similar incidents in
the future.
Role
of AI
Acknowledging
the growing use of AI tools in software development, Lethbridge speculated that
there could be “maybe a 20% chance that AI-assisted tools contributed to the
error” that afflicted Falcon.
He
noted that while AI played a crucial role in diagnosing and addressing the
issue, it may also introduce errors that risked going unnoticed.
Technology
news website The Register noted that AI plays a role in detecting anomalies,
though its real-time analysis limitations delayed root cause identification in
the CrowdStrike case.
Wired
and ZDNet, meanwhile, emphasized the need for better predictive capabilities
and incident response improvements.
Preparing
for future outages
Now,
CrowdStrike is reportedly investing in advanced AI tools and revising incident
response protocols to enhance resilience against future outages.
ZDNet
has noted improvements in testing environments and redundancy measures, but
Lethbridge warns that such outages could recur and might be more severe,
stressing the importance of building resilient systems and having contingency
plans for critical services.
What
is certain is that this incident highlighted the need for improved
cybersecurity practices and enhanced software testing to protect digital
infrastructure as experts seek ways to prevent outages in the future.
Image
Credit: © AA
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