Because we can no longer live one day without a historical event, a cyber blackout was detected in the early hours of this Friday morning worldwide and has sparked global turmoil, impacting critical sectors such as aviation, banking, and communications. The outage has led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights worldwide, leaving passengers stranded and airports in disarray. Banks have reported significant disruptions, halting financial transactions and causing distress among customers. Hospital labs couldn’t exam samples.
Communications have been severely affected globally, both personally and corporately. Businesses have struggled to communicate internally and with clients, leading to financial and operational losses. Emergency services have also been hindered in coordinating crisis responses across various regions. Delta Airlines, United, American Airlines flights, among others, has been affected, resulting in flight cancellations.
Users of Microsoft services faced difficulties accessing Microsoft 365 applications and services. The widespread chaos was traced back to a flaw in software provided by Microsoft in partnership with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
– George Kurtz
Microsoft also addressed the issue via its Microsoft 365 Status account, indicating that they were investigating the problem affecting users’ access to various Microsoft 365 apps and services.
The Cyber Outage Resolved
Microsoft and CrowdStrike have assured the public that the global cyber blackout has been resolved and that services should return to normal within the next few hours. Corrections to the flaw causing global disturbances have been made by both companies.
Microsoft stated that while the underlying cause has been fixed, residual impacts on some Microsoft 365 applications and services persist. CrowdStrike confirmed that the issue with the Falcon Sensor driver update was resolved, with no impact on Linux and MacOS systems.
Kurtz emphasized that customers should use official channels to communicate with CrowdStrike representatives for the latest updates and that the company is fully mobilized to ensure customer security and stability.
The software update was causing Windows to crash, displaying the infamous “Blue Screen of Death.” CrowdStrike clarified that the incident was not a security breach or cyber attack.
Understanding CrowdStrike
CrowdStrike, founded in 2011, has quickly become a prominent player in the cybersecurity field. Its flagship product, Falcon, is a cloud-native platform that provides endpoint protection by integrating antivirus, threat intelligence, and endpoint detection and response (EDR).
They are renowned for its rapid response capabilities, often helping companies mitigate breaches and minimize damage. Beyond endpoint security, the company offers solutions for cloud security, threat intelligence, and managed services, making it a comprehensive provider in the cybersecurity landscape.
Impact in Brazil
Although the most significant impacts were felt overseas, the Cyber Outage caused moderate concerns in Brazil. Brazilian banking apps such as Pan, Bradesco, Neon and Next and fintechs experienced instability, and there was a potential for flight delays.
In the flight sector, this incident brought up worry of delays and canceling, but the minister of Ports and Airports Silvio Costa Filho, informed that so far there has been no registered problems. Companies Azul and Latam however informed that the event could result in ponctual punctual delays.
Next Steps for Full Recovery
CrowdStrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, outlined the company’s next steps following the global cyber outage correction. In a press interview, he apologized for the disruptions and emphasized the priority to restore affected systems quickly. The focus now is on manual interventions to update affected systems since the fault hindered automatic updates.
CrowdStrike is working closely with clients to resolve all issues and restore normal operations. Kurtz reassured the public that the incident was a technical issue, not a security incident or cyber attack, and that it has been addressed.
