Crowdstrike and Microsoft: What we know about global IT outage

CrowdStrike just released an update that’s causing a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on about 20% of business Windows devices with their agent installed. Here’s what we know so far about the issue and affected industries and solutions.

Affected Industries

• Aviation: Lufthansa couldn’t retrieve bookings and Prague Airport had check-in system outages.
• Media: Sky News had broadcast interruptions.
• Retail and Banking: Supermarkets and banks had operational issues due to the BSOD.

Technical Details

The issue was caused by a specific file within the CrowdStrike agent. CrowdStrike has since identified the problem and told affected users to delete the file from the system directory.

Workarounds and Solutions

To prevent outages like the recent one caused by a software bug at Crowdstrike, you can:

• Test software updates thoroughly. Companies should have a full production-like environment.
• Automate testing, security scans, and code reviews to catch issues early.
• Roll out updates gradually. Use canary deployments (roll out to a small subset of users) or blue-green deployments (switch between two identical environments).
• Have backup systems and redundant infrastructure. If one part fails, traffic can be rerouted.
• Have a detailed incident response plan. Teams should know what to do during an outage.
• Run tabletop exercises to simulate crisis scenarios.
• Define internal and external communication channels.
• Keep customers informed of the issue, expected resolution time and workarounds.
• Set up monitoring tools to detect anomalies, performance degradation or security breaches. ??????
• Do post-mortem after incidents. Identify root causes and areas for improvement.

Remember, proactive planning and continuous improvement will prevent outages and minimize their impact

Conclusion

This is a reminder to test thoroughly before deploying updates in your cybersecurity products. CrowdStrike acted fast to fix the issue but the global impact shows how critical is cybersecurity to operational stability across industries.

Get In Touch

At CRES Technology we can help your business navigate and mitigate these cybersecurity challenges. Our monitoring tools detect issues before they become big problems, so your systems stay stable and secure. Our team is available 24/7 to support you immediately, to minimize downtime and reduce the impact of an unexpected issue. We manage and deploy updates carefully, testing and verifying before deployment to prevent disruptions. We also offer training to your staff on best practices and how to respond to a cybersecurity incident.