CrowdStrike Outage Causes Global Disruptions, Stock Falls Over 20%

Jul 19, 2024, 10:26 AM

CrowdStrike, a major cybersecurity firm, experienced a significant global IT outage on July 19, 2024, due to a defect in a single content update for Windows hosts. The outage caused widespread disruptions, including crashes of Microsoft systems, 911 outages across several US states, and interruptions in international airlines, banks, and media outlets. Sky News, Delta, United, and American Airlines were among those affected. The company's stock plummeted over 20% in pre-market trading. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz confirmed that the issue was not a security incident or cyberattack, and that a fix had been deployed. The outage led to Blue Screen of Death errors for many Windows users, further exacerbating the disruptions. Mac and Linux hosts were not impacted. Kurtz apologized for the inconvenience caused and assured that systems should be recovering.