Skip to main content

Crowdstrike blames update, bad data for global tech outage

A Crowdstrike office is shown in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Haven Daley) A Crowdstrike office is shown in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
Share

Crowdstrike is blaming a bug in an update that allowed its cybersecurity systems to push bad data out to millions of customer computers, setting off last week's global tech outage that grounded flights, took TV broadcasts off air and disrupted banks, hospitals and retailers.

Crowdstrike also said it would take measures in the future to prevent similar outages, including staggering the rollout of updates, giving customers more control over when and where they occur, and providing more details about the updates that it plans.

The company on Wednesday posted details online from its “preliminary post incident review ” of the outage, which caused chaos for the many businesses that pay for the cybersecurity firm's software services.

The problem involved an “undetected error” in the content configuration update for its Falcon platform affecting Windows machines, the Texas company said.

A bug in the content validation system allowed “problematic content data” to be deployed to Crowdstrike's customers. That triggered an “unexpected exception” that caused a Windows operating system crash, the company said.

CrowdStrike has said a “significant number” of the approximately 8.5 million computers that crashed on Friday, causing global disruptions, are back in operation as customers and regulators await a more detailed explanation of what went wrong.

Once its investigation is complete, Crowdstrike said that it will publicly release its full analysis of the meltdown.

The outage caused days of widespread technological havoc, highlighted how much of the world depends on a few key providers of computing services and drawn the attention of regulators who want more details on what went wrong.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Laws that could get Canadians in trouble in tourism hotspots

There are some laws in popular tourist destinations around the world that could land Canadian travellers in mild-to-serious trouble if they're not careful. Don't let these local laws land you in hot water during your next vacation abroad.

Local Spotlight

Video shows B.C. grizzly basking in clawfoot tub

A donated clawfoot bathtub has become the preferred lounging spot for a pair of B.C. grizzly bears, who have been taking turns relaxing and reclining in it – with minimal sibling squabbling – for the past year.