Calling Crowdstrike’s global technology outage “inconvenient” is the understatement of the year. From airlines to banking, 9-1-1 emergency services to grocery stores, and hospitals to telecommunications, millions are maddeningly stuck.
The technology blackout began early on July 19 and is linked to a software update for Microsoft systems from the previously well-reputed cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. A single error in a CrowdStrike security patch causes the infamous ‘blue screen of death’ error message to appear. With Microsoft Windows the world’s most widely used computer operating system, millions of businesses screeched to a halt.
Perhaps even more surprising than a bug in a computer system is that there’s no succinct fix. Included among the proposed fixes proposed or rumored are:
- A recommendation that users reboot their devices 15 times because the 16th time it’ll fix it
- A tongue-in-cheek suggestion that someone needs to manually restart the roughly 6.4 billion devices affected
- Customers are instructed to restart their PC in safe mode, find a specific file, delete it, and then turn it back on.
- A Crowdstrike recommendation to put the host “on a wired network (as opposed to WiFi) prior to rebooting”.
- A call for everyone to “wait some time” for the fixes to be applied.
A return to normal may feel laughable, especially for those on day four of waiting for a flight. But eventually, the technological dust will settle. Everyone will get home, buy groceries, and use their mobile banking apps. Then what?
Planet Mainframe wants to hear from you!
Share your thoughts and experiences with the mainframe community.
- What’s your take on the situation?
- The industries affected by the outage overlap substantially with companies employing mainframes. What short-term implications does this outage have on those reliant on mainframes?
- What about longer-term impacts?
- What kind of responses would you expect from business CTOs?
- What would you recommend your clients/customers/students do?
- If you were leading CrowdStrike, what would you do next?
Post a reply to these questions or share your free-form thoughts via @PlanetMainframe on X, direct message on LinkedIn, or email pberryman@planetmainframe.com.
Penney Berryman, MPH (she/her), is the Content Editor for Planet Mainframe. She also writes health technology and online education marketing materials. Penney is based in Austin, Texas.
Connect with her on LinkedIn.