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Global IT outage may take ‘weeks’ to resolve warn experts after bungled update shuts down TV channels and airlines
Experts also warned over a sinister security danger
TODAY'S global IT outage may take "weeks" to resolve – as airlines, TV channels, and even hospitals endure computer chaos around the world.
Experts have told The U.S. Sun that even though an official fix has been released, problems related to the mass IT outage will drag on.
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PCs around the world booting up on Friday, July 19 faced an impassable "Blue Screen of Death".
The bungled update has shut down airlines, broadcasts, supermarkets, and even banks around the world.
It's been linked to a bungled update from security company CrowdStrike, which helps businesses stay safe from hackers.
CrowdStrike has issued a fix for the update – but the problems may keep going, according to security pro Al Lakhani.
Read more on global IT outage
“The fallout from incidents like these can be extensive and prolonged," said Al, the CEO of security firm IDEE.
"In terms of restoring every affected computer to full operation, the recovery could span hours, days, or even weeks.
"This is because it is a supply chain attack. These are particularly damaging because a single compromised software update can impact thousands of organizations globally.
"Leading to severe consequences including service disruptions, theft of intellectual property, and threats to national security.”
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Speaking to The U.S. Sun, Professor Ian Corden, Fellow at the Institution of Engineering and Technology added: “All IT systems are different – it could be hours, days or weeks depending on the depth of the situation and cascading impacts.”
Airlines ground planes over ‘comms outage’ and flights forced to stay in air from global cyber outage
Another security expert Adam Pilton told The U.S. Sun that it will take days for bigger businesses to recover.
"Depending upon the size of the organization will determine the recovery time," said Adam, senior cybersecurity expert at Cybersmart, speaking to The U.S. Sun.
"CrowdStrike has released a fix and provided guidance which is working for many users.
"For smaller organisations, this will take hours, for larger organizations this may take days to resolve."
It will cost time and effort.
Martin Jartelius
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The update meant that Microsoft Windows PCs were unable to turn on.
They would get stuck in a "boot loop", attempting to launch Windows but repeatedly failing.
This stops Windows PCs and even some servers from working properly.
The outage first appeared in Australia as businesses down under came online before the rest of the world.
What is CrowdStrike?
THE global cyber outage affecting TV channels, banks, hospitals, airports and emergency services appears to relate to an issue at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
IT security firm CrowdStrike ran a recorded phone message on Friday - saying it was aware of reports of crashes on Microsoft's Windows operating system relating to its Falcon sensor.
A prerecorded message said: "Thanks for contacting CrowdStrike support. CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows... related to the Falcon sensor."
The Falcon system monitors the computers it is installed on and detects hacks and bugs before responding to them.
CrowdStrike, headquartered in Austin, Texas, says it is a global security leader which provides an advanced platform to protect data.
A CrowdStrike update on Friday is said to have caused a critical error in Microsoft operating systems, affecting millions worldwide.
The company regularly updates systems with new anti-virus software
Toby Murray, associate professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne, Australia said: "If Falcon is suffering a malfunction then it could be causing a widespread outage for two reasons .
"One: Falcon is widely deployed on many computers, and two: because of Falcon's privileged nature.
"Falcon is a bit like anti-virus software: it is regularly updated with information about the latest online threats.
"It is possible that today's outage may have been caused by a buggy update to Falcon.".
Cyber expert Troy Hunt told Australian TV network Seven: “It looks like they've pushed a bad update, which is presently nuking every machine that takes it.”
But the issues quickly spread, with Sky News going off completely in the UK.
Airlines, banks, and even hospitals across the US and UK have been affected.
Some devices will have avoided the update, and no more machines should be affected after the fix, according to CrowdStrike.
But others that have been affected will need to be manually repaired, and said it could drag on into the summer.
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"For those impacted, if their systems did not get the erroneous update then that is a positive," said Martin Jartelius, chief security officer at Outpost24, speaking to The U.S. Sun.
"If they did get the update, some seem to be able to get up and running and they will fix themselves.
"Others will currently have a workaround to get the good update and have some hands-on support, including boot into safe mode and removing some files, expect this to be done swiftly for any systems that need a high availability.
"But expect the cleanup in IT-departments to potentially drag out over the summer vacation period.
CROWDSTRIKE BLAMED – CEO'S FULL REPLY
Here's an official statement from CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz...
“Today was not a security or cyber incident.
“Our customers remain fully protected.
“We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption.
“We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on.
“As noted earlier, the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed.
“There was an issue with a Falcon content update for Windows Hosts. For the latest information that we will continuously update, please refer to the CrowdStrike website, my posts on LinkedIn, and my posts on X.
“ will continue to provide updates to our community and the industry as they become available.”
"So, where it really matters, this should not be too hard to fix, but it will cost time and effort."
We also spoke to Patrick Burgess, senior member of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, who said: “It will likely to take weeks to fully recover as millions of devices have been affected and they all need a manual fix applied.
“I would imagine the core impact will start to abate in the coming hours and days though as the central servers are fixed as a priority.”
Earlier today, experts told The U.S. Sun how this exposes a major vulnerability in our global IT systems.
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They warned that hackers could take advantage of popular business security systems like this to shut down computers around the world – with Adam Pilton adding that "we must learn from this".
In a statement sent to The U.S. Sun, CrowdStrike said: "This is not a security incident or cyberattack.
"The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.
"We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.
IT OUTAGE SCAMMERS – BEWARE!
Beware the scammers, warns Sean Keach, The Sun's Head of Technology and Science.
This is going to cause a flurry of dangerous online scams.
Whenever major tech events happen like this, the criminals come crawling out of the woodwork to take advantage of innocent internet users.
You might find yourself receiving strange calls, texts, or emails, warning you about a hack and asking for info.
So be extremely cautious if you’re being asked for personal data, like your credit card info or phone number, to fix this IT outage.
You might also be told you need to download some security software urgently.
That’s another classic scam that lets crooks install dangerous malware on your machines.
Don’t fall for it: your computer should be totally fine, so you don’t need to take any action as a regular person.
This wasn’t a cyberattack – it’s just a bad computer update for businesses. Don’t listen to the scammers.
"We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.
"Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers."
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A Microsoft spokesperson told The U.S. Sun. “Earlier today, a CrowdStrike update was responsible for bringing down a number of IT systems globally.
"We are actively supporting customers to assist in their recovery.”