Thousands of organizations worldwide experienced significant disruptions due to a major bug affecting most of their Windows computers. Among those impacted were UK broadcaster Sky News, major airline Ryanair, the Berlin airport, and many others, all of whom reported encountering the Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) and a recovery boot loop issue that prevented their systems from starting up.
The global outage appears to have been caused by a faulty update issued by CrowdStrike.
CrowdStrike acknowledged the issue in a support note, stating, “We have widespread reports of BSODs on Windows hosts, occurring on multiple sensor versions,” as reported by The Verge. But what is CrowdStrike, and how did one update cause such widespread disruption?
CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity technology company that specializes in cloud-based endpoint protection. Founded in 2011, the company has developed a range of products and services aimed at preventing cyber threats and detecting attacks. Additionally, CrowdStrike focuses on threat intelligence, providing analysis and reports on the latest trends and threats within the cybersecurity community.
The company’s flagship product is Falcon, a comprehensive cybersecurity platform that protects endpoints through a cloud-native approach. Falcon’s key features include advanced threat detection, prevention, and response capabilities. Its next-gen antivirus (NGAV) uses machine learning and behavioral analysis to tackle various threats, such as malware, ransomware, and zero-day exploits.
Falcon also offers endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities, continuously monitoring endpoint activity to identify suspicious behavior. As a cloud-native platform, it can scale to manage large amounts of data efficiently, and updates are seamlessly integrated. Falcon’s integrated threat intelligence services provide organizations with the latest information on emerging threats and vulnerabilities, leveraging data from millions of sensors worldwide.
The outage was traced back to a faulty update to the Falcon product. CrowdStrike addressed the situation, stating in a recorded phone message that they were aware of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor, as reported by CNBC.
CrowdStrike has a notable history in the cybersecurity field. The company was founded by George Kurtz, Dmitri Alperovitch, and Gregg Marston in 2011. It has been involved in several high-profile cybersecurity cases, such as the 2014 report that led to charges against five Chinese military hackers for attacking U.S. companies for trade secrets. CrowdStrike also identified the Russian state-sponsored threat actor Energetic Bear and helped attribute the 2014 Sony Pictures hack to North Korean attackers.
As of the latest reports, CrowdStrike’s valuation stands at $80.58 billion, with over 20,000 customers. The company continues to break records in annual recurring revenue, total revenue, and cash flow operations, among other metrics.
