A global IT outage has caused widespread disruptions across various sectors, primarily affecting Microsoft and CrowdStrike services. The outage began on July 19, 2024, and quickly spread to users in the United States, Australia, India, and several European countries. Microsoft’s cloud services, including Azure and Microsoft 365 applications, experienced severe disruptions, with 59% facing login issues, 22% encountering app accessibility problems, and 19% struggling with OneDrive functionality. The initial disruptions were concentrated in the Central U.S. region but rapidly affected users worldwide, leading to operational challenges for organizations relying on these critical tools.
CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor users reported Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors linked to a recent software update, causing critical failures on Windows hosts, resulting in boot loops and system crashes. CrowdStrike’s engineering team quickly identified the problem as stemming from a faulty content deployment and reverted the changes. They provided guidance for affected users, advising them to delete specific driver files to resolve the BSOD errors.
The global outage has profoundly affected several key sectors, including Airlines, Banking, IT Sectors, and more. Airlines in India reported that their systems across the network are impacted by an ongoing outage in Microsoft Azure. Indigo, Indigo’s cloud computing platform, is working relentlessly to restore stability and normalcy. Akasa Air reported infrastructure issues with the service provider, causing some online services to be temporarily unavailable. SpiceJet also reported similar issues, with SpiceJet stating that their team is actively working to resolve the issue.
Microsoft and CrowdStrike are actively working to resolve the issues and restore full service to affected users. Microsoft has acknowledged the situation and is providing updates on their progress, while CrowdStrike issued a technical alert detailing the BSOD issue and recommended actions for users. To stay safe from issues like the recent BSOD error linked to CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor update, consider the following key points:
1. Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment.
2. Navigate to the “C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike” directory.
3. Locate the file matching “C-00000291*.sys” and delete it.
4. Boot the host normally.
