News, AntaraNews – CrowdStrike discovered that the worldwide IT interruption that affected finance, transport as well as medical sectors across the globe was the result of an update to the sensor configuration for Windows which went incorrect
The update of the configuration of sensors that was installed on Microsoft Windows systems that went off the rails was responsible for what’s now being described as the biggest IT downtime in recent history.
The outage that affected IT that began on 19 July was caused by an CrowdStrike software update produced an error in logic. The result was an unintentional system crash, and also caused the “blue screen of death’ users saw on their devices.
CrowdStrike Error
The error in logic has been rectified and things are back to normal throughout the world the company said CrowdStrike in a press release that outlines the technical aspects of the downtime.
The affected users were mostly those using the Falcon sensor, which is compatible with Windows version 7.11 and higher. They were online for certain periods during the 19th of July.
CrowdStrike stated the sensor configuration update was an “ongoing component of the protection mechanism of the Falcon platform”–its security service for endpoints.
“The upgrade that happened at 04:09 UTC was devised to attack newly discovered names pipes, which are malicious and that are being utilized by popular C2 frameworks for cyberattacks. The update to the configuration caused an error in logic that caused the operating system being unable to function,” noted CrowdStrike. The cause wasn’t a cyberattack the firm said.
Microsoft has previously said “Virtual Machines running Windows Client and Windows Server, running the CrowdStrike Falcon agent, may encounter a bug check”.
The exact time of the impact could have occurred at 9.39 a.m. (IST) on the 19th of July, when the CrowdStrike update began being released.
For the most up-to-date information regarding fixing the issue and getting back online customers can go to the CrowdStrike website’s blog and the support website. Users can also speak directly to the company.