Blog

Ethan Norris | Marketing Coordinator
As you may have heard, there was a significant outage currently affecting CrowdStrike services, which caused widespread disruptions to Windows systems globally.
This issue was being reported across the globe and has been traced back to a problem with the CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor. CrowdStrike confirmed the issue in an alert at 1:30 a.m. ET on 7/19/2024, stating:
“CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor. Symptoms include experiencing a bugcheck\blue screen error related to the Falcon Sensor. Our Engineering teams are actively working to resolve this issue and there is no need to open a support ticket.”
If your Windows computer is experiencing the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), please be assured that the issue is currently being addressed.
Details of the Outage:
Global Impact
Despite the CrowdStrike issue specifically causing Windows to crash, the problem appears to have broader implications. Given that Windows is an incredibly popular operating system and CrowdStrike a leading cybersecurity company, numerous companies and services experienced outages due to their computers being down. Although your organization may not have been directly affected by the outage, it has negatively impacted the following industries and sectors.
- Airline Industry: Several U.S. airlines, including American, Delta, and United Airlines, have been grounded due to communications issues. UK’s Ryanair has also reported that their booking and check-in system is down. The Federal Aviation Administration is closely monitoring the situation.
- Banking: Financial institutions are experiencing service disruptions, with electronic payment systems down in some regions, affecting transactions.
- Emergency Services: 911 services are potentially impacted, causing slower response times and communication issues.
- Other Sectors: Supermarkets, telecommunications companies, TV broadcasters, and various online platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Instagram, eBay, Visa, and ADT are reporting outages.
Temporary Measures and Fix:
CrowdStrike has announced that it has identified the problematic update and rolled it back as of 2:30 a.m. ET on 7/19/2024. They also provided a workaround for those still experiencing issues:
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-0000029*.sys’ and delete it.
4. Boot the host normally.
Recommended Actions:
While the issue is being resolved, we recommend the following actions to mitigate risks and ensure continuity:
- Increased Vigilance: Monitor your systems closely for any unusual activity or security threats. Cyberthreat actors will surely be taking advantage of the outage, so please encourage your users to maintain a high degree of vigilance and to take the extra precautions to ensure the validity of any emails that may be targeted phishing attempts.
- Backup and Redundancy: Ensure all critical data is backed up and redundant systems are operational.
- Communication Plans: Establish clear internal communication channels for swift information dissemination.
- Alternative Security Measures: Implement additional security measures such as enhanced firewalls and manual monitoring where possible.
We understand the critical nature of these services and the inconvenience this outage may cause. Our team is closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as they become available.
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our support team.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
About Technical Support International
TSI is 35-year old cybersecurity (MSSP) and IT support (MSP) company specializing in helping DIB organizations address their NIST 800-171 and CMMC compliance obligations. As a CMMC-AB Registered Provider Organization (RPO), TSI offers a complete NIST 800-171 and CMMC support solution to help guide our clients toward a successful certification audit and provide the assurance that they’re adhering to these expansive compliance requirements.
Categories
- Backup & Disaster Recovery
- Business Operations
- Case Studies
- Cloud Services
- Cyber Security
- Employee Spotlight
- Finance & Budgeting
- Glossary Term
- Governance & IT Compliance
- Managed Services
- Mobile Device Management
- Network Infrastructure
- NIST 800-171 & CMMC 2.0
- PCI
- Podcast
- Project Management
- TSI
- Uncategorized
- vCIO
Cyber Security Policy Starter Kit:
10 Critical Policies That Every Company Should Have in Place
