On Friday 19 July 2024, the UK woke up to news of a widespread IT outage affecting numerous organizations globally. The disruption began in Australia before quickly spreading to Asia, Europe, and the Americas, with the travel industry being heavily impacted. The incident was traced back to cyber security firm CrowdStrike, which is currently working on resolving the issue. Keep updated on this developing situation with our Essential Guide.
CrowdStrike is a leading cyber security company based in Texas with thousands of customers worldwide. It has been operational since 2011 and is known for its advanced cloud-native security platform. The company has recently faced an outage due to a faulty file rollout affecting its Falcon sensor product, resulting in Windows devices crashing. While the full extent of the incident is still being investigated, there is no indication of a cyber security threat at this time.
Several organizations, including airlines, airports, financial institutions, healthcare providers, and media companies, reported being impacted by the outage. CrowdStrike has since deployed a fix for the issue, but affected hosts may still experience problems. IT administrators are advised to follow specific steps to address the issue, and CrowdStrike customers can seek further assistance through their support portal.
To prevent similar problems in the future, IT teams should consider implementing a phased approach to software updates, particularly for security solutions. Testing updates in a controlled environment before full deployment and ensuring system redundancy are essential steps to mitigate risks associated with product updates.