Microsoft Fixes Underlying Cause of Global Cloud Outage
On Friday, Microsoft experienced a significant global outage affecting various industries worldwide. The tech giant later announced that the root cause of the cloud services disruption in the Central US region had been resolved. However, the residual impact of the outage continued to affect some Office 365 apps and services.
Widespread Impact of the Outage
The recent bug caused extensive disruption, impacting stock exchanges, supermarkets, and flight operations globally. Users encountered the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error, leading to unexpected system shutdowns or restarts. CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity software firm, identified a new update as the cause of the outage, affecting Windows-based desktops and laptops.
Airline Disruptions in the US and India
The outage led to significant disruptions in the US, causing airlines to cancel flights. Microsoft’s cloud services breakdown affected booking and check-in services for several airlines, including IndiGo, Akasa Airlines, and SpiceJet in India. Major air carriers faced technical issues, resulting in flight delays across the country. Passengers had to be checked in manually, leading to long queues at airports.
Impact on Financial and Media Sectors
In addition to the airline industry, the outage also affected payment apps, trading platforms, and banking services. Several global news broadcasters, including Britain’s Sky News and Australia’s ABC News, were unable to broadcast due to the cloud services breakdown. The Associated Press also faced service disruption in news delivery.
CrowdStrike’s Response
CrowdStrike stated that the current outage was not due to a cyberattack. CEO George Kurtz announced that the issue had been identified, isolated, and a fix had been deployed. He emphasized that the company was “deeply sorry for the impact caused to customers, travelers, and anyone affected by this.” Kurtz noted that while many customers were rebooting their systems and returning to operational status, some systems might take longer to recover.
Steps to Resolve the Issue
Following the outage, the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) of the central government issued an advisory on resolving the issue. The advisory provided steps for reverting changes made in the latest CrowdStrike update. If hosts were still crashing and unable to stay online, users were instructed to boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment, navigate to the C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory, locate and delete the file matching “C-00000291*.sys,” and then boot the host normally.
The global cloud outage caused by a bug in CrowdStrike’s update had far-reaching effects, disrupting various industries and services. While Microsoft and CrowdStrike have deployed fixes to resolve the issue, the residual impact continues to be felt. The incident highlights the critical role of cloud services and cybersecurity in maintaining the smooth operation of modern industries.
