The 'blue screen' affected airlines, banks and hospitals!
On the morning of July 19, 2024, there was a major information system outage around the world. Noting that an update sent by Crowdstrike affected computers with Windows operating system, bringing operations in many sectors to a standstill, Cyber Security Specialist Asst. Prof. Ahmet Şenol stated that "As of July 19, it is understood that the basis of the problem is that Crowdstrike sent an update to computers without testing it sufficiently.”
Asst. Prof. Ahmet Şenol stated that "Since the computer experiencing the problem is currently inaccessible, it is necessary to go to each computer and solve the problem manually."
Üsküdar University Cyber Security Master's Program Head Asst. Prof. Ahmet Şenol evaluated the worldwide information system outage on July 19.
It is not caused by a cyber attack or malware
Reminding that as of the morning of July 19, 2024, Türkiye time, a major information system outage occurred around the world, which made the systems of many giant companies and organizations such as airlines, hospitals, and banks inoperable. Prof. Ahmet Şenol stated that "First of all, this did not happen as a result of a cyber attack or malware. It became clear that the problem was caused by a patch sent to the systems by a company called Crowdstrike, which provides security infrastructure to large companies and organizations."
A 'blue screen' has occurred on users' computers
Stating that Crowdstrike develops software to actively protect systems, Asst. Prof. "Crowdstrike has a monitoring software called Falcon sensor, which runs on all servers of protected companies. An update sent on July 19, 2024 in the morning of Türkiye time, caused problems only on computers with Windows operating systems, and did not cause a problem on MacOS and Linux-based systems. On servers or normal user computers with Windows operating systems, a situation called 'blue screen' occurred where the operating system did not work, and the computers could not be used."
It started in Australia
Stating that this situation occurred in Australia and made some banks and airports there inoperable, Prof. Ahmet Şenol said that "Later, it affected Europe, the USA and other regions. In the United Kingdom, the SkyNews channel became unable to broadcast. Delta, United and American Airlines have stopped flights. Turkish Airlines cancelled 84 flights due to this problem. It has been learned that Denizbank's systems have also been affected."
It is necessary to access each computer and solve the problem manually
Expressing that "As of July 19, it seems that the root of the problem is that Crowdstrike sent an update to computers without testing it sufficiently," Prof. Ahmet Şenol concluded his remarks as follows:
"Although Crowdstrike explains on its web site which update caused the problem and how to fix the problem on a particular device, the computer experiencing the problem is currently inaccessible; therefore, you have to access each computer and manually fix the problem. It is necessary to open the Windows operating system in safe mode, delete a file and restart the system, and this must be done separately for each device. It is estimated that it may take up to two days for the problem to be completely resolved."
Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)