A global tech outage that was related to a software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has affected nearly 8.5 million Microsoft devices, Microsoft said in a blog post on Saturday.
“We currently estimate that CrowdStrike’s update affected 8.5 million Windows devices, or less than one percent of all Windows machines. While the percentage was small, the broad economic and societal impacts reflect the use of CrowdStrike by enterprises that run many critical services,” Microsoft said.
“While software updates may occasionally cause disturbances, significant incidents like the CrowdStrike event are infrequent,” the tech company said in the blog post on its official website.
On July 18, CrowdStrike, an independent cybersecurity company, released a software update that began impacting IT systems globally.
“Although this was not a Microsoft incident, given it impacts our ecosystem, we want to provide an update on the steps we’ve taken with CrowdStrike and others to remediate and support our customers,” Microsoft clarified in a blog post on Saturday.
“We’re working around the clock and providing ongoing updates and support. Additionally, CrowdStrike has helped us develop a scalable solution that will help Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure accelerate a fix for CrowdStrike’s faulty update. We have also worked with both AWS and GCP to collaborate on the most effective approaches,” the tech giant said.
The incident has caused disruptions on the software systems of several airports across the world.
In Malaysia, it was reported that the global outage of IT operations running on Microsoft-based systems seems to have hit Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with reports on social media from users, saying that operations have been disrupted at Terminal 2.
Long queues have been sighted as the kiosks are Terminal 2 are not operational, forcing travellers to manually check in at counters, the Malay Mail reported on Friday.
According to Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, a total of 20 departing flights at KLIA Main terminal has been delayed. The global tech glitch affected flights, banking and company operations in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, India and Australia, according to various media reports.
“This incident demonstrates the interconnected nature of our broad ecosystem — global cloud providers, software platforms, security vendors and other software vendors, and customers,” Microsoft said.
“It’s also a reminder of how important it is for all of us across the tech ecosystem to prioritize operating with safe deployment and disaster recovery using the mechanisms that exist. As we’ve seen over the last two days, we learn, recover and move forward most effectively when we collaborate and work together,” the company added.
In a separate statement, CrowdStrike said it is actively assisting customers affected by a defect in a recent content update for Windows hosts.
“Mac and Linux hosts were not impacted. The issue has been identified and isolated, and a fix has been deployed. This was not a cyberattack,” the company said.
“Customers are advised to check the support portal for updates. We will also continue to provide the latest information here and on our blog as it’s available. We recommend organizations verify they are communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels,” CrowdStrike said in a post on its website.
“We understand the gravity of this situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers,” it added.
CrowdStrike Founder and CEO George Kurtz has earlier apologized about the outage on Friday (July 19).
“I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for the outage. All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation. We quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix, allowing us to focus diligently on restoring customer systems as our highest priority,” he said in a statement.
“The outage was caused by a defect found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This was not a cyberattack,” he explained.
“We are working closely with impacted customers and partners to ensure that all systems are restored, so you can deliver the services your customers rely on,” he added.