Updated on July 19, 2024: This article was updated after CrowdStrike confirmed the issue in a blog post and the CEO apologized on the Today show. It can be viewed below.

The bug affects numerous systems running Windows and CrowdStrike's security software. Airlines, railroads, medical facilities, and emergency services are facing problems with repeated reboots and blue screens of death (BSOD). [Microsoft has this to say about the issue: “We are aware of an issue where virtual machines running Windows running the CrowdStrike Falcon agent may encounter a bug check (BSOD) and become stuck in a rebooting state. We are aware of this issue and are currently investigating options Azure customers can take to mitigate.

The issue appears to be caused by the Falcon Sensor agent, which is part of CrowdStrike's security platform.

CrowdStrike stated in a blog post that “the issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been implemented.”

However, the bug's impact is still widespread worldwide. FalconSensor is commonly used to protect Windows machines, as evidenced by the number of companies, organizations, and services reporting failures today.

Sky News, a UK news broadcaster, was offline all morning. It has since managed to resume service. However, KLM, a major Dutch airline, had to suspend its operations. Other airlines reported disruptions, including Ryanair.

Various soccer clubs, airports, and banks have reported disruptions. London Gatwick Airport has confirmed the impact of the disruption, but has advised passengers to arrive on time for their flights. Berlin and Schiphol airports are also affected, but most airports report normal operations.

X users suggest that handwritten boarding passes are being used at Indian airports instead of the usual printed boarding passes.

Other airports have also reported facing massive IT shutdowns, delays, and cancellations. GP services in England are also reportedly affected.

Crowdstrike admits that this is a “single content update for Windows hosts” glitch and “not a security incident or cyber attack.”

It may be some time before this issue is fully resolved. As many PC builders can attest, systems that are constantly in a boot loop make troubleshooting, updating, and rolling back to previous updates a nightmare. We definitely have to think about those poor IT workers.

Microsoft engineers may have an especially hard time, as another Microsoft 365 issue has left some users impoverished and unable to access 365 apps and services. However, this is said to be due to Microsoft's own disruption, not an outside service. [George Kurtz, CEO of CloudStrike, in an interview with Today.

“The system was sent an update. That update had a bug in it that caused problems with the Microsoft operating system. We identified it very quickly and fixed the problem.

Kurtz further explained that they are currently working with customers to get the affected systems up and running. This will obviously take time, as the company's customers include hospitals, emergency services, schools, and even state governments in the United States. IT systems around the world are affected by this bug.

These systems are said to be stuck in a reboot/BSOD loop and updates may prove troublesome.

“It's been a long night,” Kurtz said during the interview.

Even when the systems are back up and running, cleaning up from the outage will take time. There are thousands of passengers at the airport waiting for planes that did not take off and medical appointments that did not take place. Therefore, they are being forced to respond. The good news is that some airports are reporting that their systems are back online and returning to normal.