CrowdStrike Bug: Major Windows BSOD Problem Hits Banks, Airlines, & TV Networks

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The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) problem is affecting thousands of Windows computers at boot today, affecting banks, airlines, TV broadcasters, supermarkets, and numerous other enterprises across the globe. A malicious update from cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike is taking down impacted PCs and servers, putting them in a recovery boot loop that prevents them from starting correctly. The third-party CrowdStrike software, which is extensively utilized by numerous companies globally to manage the security of Windows PCs and servers, is the root of the problem rather than Microsoft.

When thousands of machines began to fall offline, Australian banks, airlines, and TV broadcasters were the first to sound the alarm. As European-based enterprises began their workday, the problems quickly spread. Sky News, a UK broadcaster, was unable to provide its morning newscasts for hours this morning, with an apology statement for "the interruption to this broadcast" displayed. One of the largest airlines in Europe, Ryanair, has also reported that flight departures are being affected by a "third-party" IT problem.

When a machine boots up, it gets stuck on the recovery blue screen hours this morning, with an apology statement for "the interruption to this broadcast" displayed. One of the largest airlines in Europe, Ryanair, has also reported that flight departures are being affected by a "third-party" IT problem. When a machine boots up, it gets stuck on the recovery blue screen Due to communication problems, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) claims to be supporting carriers such as American carriers, United, and Delta. According to FAA spokesman Jeannie Shiffer, "the agency is closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at US airlines," in a statement provided to The Verge. "Until the problem is fixed, several airlines have asked the FAA for assistance with ground stops for their fleets."

There is also a notice at the Berlin airport about travel delays because of "technical issues." These problems have also affected a large number of Alaskan 911 emergency call centers. Because of the disruptions, one airline in India has even started using handwritten boarding permits.

The CEO of CrowdStrike states, "CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.". states George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, in a post on X. "Linux and Mac hosts are unaffected. This isn't a cyberattack or security incident. Although a fix has reportedly been implemented, according to CrowdStrike, IT administrators will not find it easy to fix these workstations. A change to the kernel-level driver that CrowdStrike employs to secure Windows computers appears to be the main culprit. Even though CrowdStrike discovered the problem and undid the problematic update in response to "widespread reports of BSODs on Windows hosts," the affected computers don't seem to be helped.

Since a recent Crowdstrike upgrade caused a significant outage, Windows users worldwide have been stuck in the "recovery" stage. Airports, businesses, and government offices worldwide may have been impacted by the outage, according to reports.

In a recent support page, Crowdstrike has also acknowledged the issue and stated that Falcon n sensor issues are the cause of the Windows crashes that have been occurring recently. It said, "CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes connected to the Falcon Sensor that have occurred on Windows hosts.

"Among the symptoms are hosts reporting a Falcon Sensor-related bugcheck\blue screen error. There is no need to submit a support case since our engineering teams are currently working to remedy this issue," the business stated.

Numerous IT administrators have reported extensive problems in a Reddit thread. The suggested fix is to boot impacted Windows machines into safe mode, go to the CrowdStrike directory, and remove a system file. That will cause issues for some cloud-based servers or even remotely deployed Windows laptops.

One Reddit user writes, "Our entire company is offline," while another claims that 70% of their laptops are broken and in a boot loop. "Happy Friday," a Reddit user wishes you. IT administrators everywhere appear to be in for a rough day. 

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