CrowdStrike reveals cause of global IT outrage

President and Chief Executive Officer of CrowdStrike George Kurtz has said that a single defect in content update for Windows hosts caused the global IT outage.

He confirmed that the Friday’s outage was not a security event or cyber attack.

Several industries were affected by the outage including, banks, airlines, airports, broadcasters and healthcare sectors.

Giving an update on the system, Kurtz said his company was actively working with customers impacted by the fault.

“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website,” he wrote on X.

He further recommended that organisations ensure they communicate with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.

“Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers,” he added.

The disruption was attributed to a cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, whose software is used by industries around the world to protect against hackers and outside breaches.

The outage has cancelled over 1000 flights globally so far, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

This figure – currently 1,078 – will only get bigger as the knock-on impacts grow.