A major global disruption has been caused today by a single update from the anti-virus company Crowdstrike, leading to widespread chaos. Here’s what happened and what you need to know:

  • What Happened: An update to Crowdstrike’s Falcon virus scanner has caused a massive outage, affecting millions of Windows computers worldwide.
  • Impact: Users are experiencing the "Blue Screen of Death," a critical error screen indicating system problems. This issue has been described as one of the biggest outages ever.


  • Crowdstrike’s Role: The company’s update, which was meant to improve its software, instead triggered widespread system failures.
  • Microsoft’s Stance: Microsoft has clarified that the problem originated from a third-party source (Crowdstrike) and not from its own systems.

Current Situation:

  • Resolution Efforts: Crowdstrike has released a fix for the problem. However, IT professionals report that every affected machine may need a manual reboot in safe mode, which could be time-consuming.
  • Data Safety: There is no evidence that the outage involved malicious intent or data theft.

Responses and Reactions:

  • Crowdstrike’s Apology: Initially, the company did not issue a full apology, which upset many. Later, CEO George Kurtz expressed regret for the inconvenience caused.
  • Online Reaction: The lack of an immediate apology drew criticism from the public and tech community.
  • Dependence on Tech: This incident highlights how reliant the world has become on technology managed by large companies and how vulnerable we are when things go wrong.
  • Update Timing: Experts recommend avoiding major updates on Fridays due to reduced weekend staffing, which can delay problem resolution.

What to Do:

  • Crowdstrike’s Support: If you are a Crowdstrike customer, visit their support website for details on how to apply the fix.
  • Company IT Teams: Businesses should work closely with their IT departments to address the outage and implement the fix.

Looking Ahead:

  • Resolution Timeline: It may take several days before systems are fully restored and normal operations resume.