Less than two weeks after global outage, dubbed as “blue screen of death”, Microsoft suffered another similar incident, which the company said was triggered by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) cyberattack. According to Forbes, the latest attack was reported by several users on Tuesday in which users complained of not being able to access several Microsoft services, such as Office, Outlook and Azure. The incident lasted nearly 10 hours. Companies affected by the new outage include UK bank NatWest, as per the BBC.

Other impacted services included Azure App Services, Application Insights, Azure IoT Central, Azure Log Search Alerts, Azure Policy, as well as the Azure portal itself and “a subset of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview services”.

The tech giant said it was a DDoS attack that floods a service with traffic in order to bring them to a standstill.

Firms usually put protection in place for DDoS attacks, but an error in the implementation of defences “amplified the impact of the attack rather than mitigating it”, said Microsoft.

This is the second major attack in nearly as many weeks. A Microsoft error had crippled Windows computers worldwide on July 19. It was later revealed that an update to the anti-virus program ‘Falcon Sensor’ by CrowdStrike caused the massive outage.

From airlines to news channels, the glitch led to the crashing of IT systems, disrupting the daily proceedings.

CrowdStrike’s products are predominantly used by major organisations needing robust cyber attack protection, which is why the attack caused a global outage.

Reacting to the glitch, Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz said it was not a security incident or cyberattack. The company identified the issue, isolated it and deployed a fix.

Republicans who lead the House Homeland Security committee said Monday they want answers soon [File]
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

U.S. House leaders are calling on CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify to Congress about the cybersecurity company’s role in sparking the widespread tech outage that grounded flights, knocked banks and hospital systems offline and affected services around the world.

CrowdStrike said this week a “significant number” of the millions of computers that crashed on Friday, causing global disruptions, are back in operation as its customers and regulators await a more detailed explanation of what went wrong.

Republicans who lead the House Homeland Security committee said Monday they want those answers soon.

“While we appreciate CrowdStrike’s response and coordination with stakeholders, we cannot ignore the magnitude of this incident, which some have claimed is the largest IT outage in history,” said a letter to Kurtz from Rep. Mark E. Green of Tennessee and Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York.

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They added that Americans “deserve to know in detail how this incident happened and the mitigation steps CrowdStrike is taking.”

A defective software update sent by CrowdStrike to its customers disrupted airlines, banks, hospitals and other critical services Friday, affecting about 8.5 million machines running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The painstaking work of fixing it has often required a company’s IT crew to manually delete files on affected machines.

CrowdStrike said late Sunday in a blog post that it was starting to implement a new technique to accelerate remediation of the problem. It also said in a brief statement Monday that it is actively in contact with congressional committees.

Shares of the Texas-based cybersecurity company have dropped more than 20% since the meltdown, knocking off billions of dollars in market value.

The scope of the disruptions has also caught the attention of government regulators, including antitrust enforcers, though it remains to be seen if they take action against the company.

“All too often these days, a single glitch results in a system-wide outage, affecting industries from healthcare and airlines to banks and auto-dealers,” said Lina Khan, chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in a Sunday post on the social media platform X. “Millions of people and businesses pay the price. These incidents reveal how concentration can create fragile systems.”

Imagine a scene from Neuromancer: hackers breaking in, causing chaos with every keystroke. Now, flash back to this Friday. That sci-fi scenario? It’s suddenly not so fictional. A botched software update has just thrown real life into disarray. Planes grounded, emergency lines jammed, and check-in counters swamped with long, snaking lines of frustrated travellers.

The Microsoft outage has disrupted India’s aviation sector. As major airlines like Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air scramble with systems down, passengers face the brunt-endless lines, delayed flights, and a ticking clock. Even as airports like Delhi and Bengaluru report disruptions in up to 90% of flights, the response has been reactive, not proactive.

Also Read | The ‘Fake’ CrowdStrike Worker Who Crippled Windows Users Worldwide

This isn’t a plot twist from Mr. Robot, where vigilantes manipulate the digital world for justice or chaos. This is our reality-the infrastructure teetering on the edge because of a glitch. As we stand in overcrowded terminals or seek urgent help to no avail, the dystopian futures of cyberpunk are already knocking on our door.

Who Pays When Software Fails Us?

Think about the price tag of such an outage. Airlines cancel thousands of flights, hospitals delay life-saving procedures, and emergency responders hit a wall. The immediate cost is staggering, sure. But what about the long game? Lost trust, furious customers, and shaken investor confidence can balloon these costs to even more astronomical levels. How many millions – or billions – are we talking about here?

Why aren’t Microsoft or CrowdStrike held to the same stringent standards as those in more traditional sectors? A single faulty brake pad can trigger nationwide recalls in the automotive world. So why does the tech industry get a free pass when their mistakes can shut down our hospitals, ground our planes, and leave us stranded at check-in counters? It’s ridiculous.

Also Read | Airports Clearing Backlog After Global IT Chaos, Centre Shares An Update

When the digital infrastructure crumbles, the fallout is accepted as part of the modern condition. And where’s the backup plan? Our entire digital life hangs by the thread of a few lines of code with no strong fail-safe in sight. Why isn’t there a robust Plan B when Plan A fails so spectacularly? Shouldn’t there be mandatory, iron-clad redundancies for technologies that our lives depend on?

Another tech glitch, and who’s caught in the crossfire? The users, because we’re over-reliant on platforms like Microsoft. They blame CrowdStrike, but that’s not the point. Apple and Linux users dodged the bullet-why aren’t we spreading our risks? It’s high time we break up with single-system dependency.

We need more than apologies when tech systems fail disastrously. It’s time for stringent regulations to hold tech giants like Microsoft and their partners accountable, just as any other sector crucial to public safety and welfare would be.

Our reliance on these platforms is too critical to allow the ‘single-system dependency’ to continue unchecked. Let’s push for diversity in our tech solutions to safeguard our digital – and physical – lives. 

(Pankaj Mishra has been a journalist for over two decades and is the co-founder of FactorDaily.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

New Delhi:

“What is CrowdStrike? Why is my Windows computer showing the Blue Screen of Death? Who is responsible for the biggest-ever IT outage?”

These are questions that have dominated conversations across the globe after a Microsoft error brought Windows computers to its heels. While it is now known that an update to an anti-virus program ‘Falcon Sensor’ by CrowdStrike was responsible for the massive worldwide outage, people have still been wondering how such a defective update was allowed to be released and who was behind it.

Step in Vincent Flibustier, an X user parading to be a Crowdstrike employee. Vincent broke the internet with an altered, AI-generated photo of him outside the CrowdStrike office along with the caption, “First day at Crowdstrike, pushed a little update and taking the afternoon off.”

First day at Crowdstrike, pushed a little update and taking the afternoon off pic.twitter.com/bOs4qAKwu0

— Vincent Flibustier (@vinceflibustier) July 19, 2024

The photo went viral within minutes and already has nearly 4 lakh likes and has been shared by over 36,000 users.

Two hours later, Flibustier posted another update – the company had fired him. He also shared a short video where he takes ‘responsibility’ for causing the global outage.

Vincent Flibustier also changed his X (former Twitter) bio to accompany the parody. His bio said, “Former Crowdstrike employee, fired for an unfair reason, only changed 1 line of code to optimize. Looking for a job as Sysadmin.”

While he was trying to make a joke about it, thousands online bought his satire and thought he was the one responsible for the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on their system. Airlines, banks, TV channels, and several other industries were scrambling to deal with the issue, and people on social media went into overdrive after finding the ‘culprit’.

While several users praised him for ensuring that they don’t have to work on a Friday, some posted abusive messages about him.

The truth: Vincent is a satirical writer who runs Nordpresse, a Belgian parody news site. He appeared as a guest on France TV, where he remarked, “People are drawn to stories that confirm their preconceptions.”

Explaining further why people on the internet immediately latched on to his joke, he said, “No culprit named yet, I bring it on a platter, people like to have a culprit. The culprit seems completely stupid, he is proud of his stupidity, he takes his afternoon off on the first day of work. This falls right into a huge buzz in which people absolutely need to have new information, and a fake is by nature new, you won’t read it anywhere else.”

He also said that the post was shared by those who knew it was a joke, but the amplification sent it into a zone where people took every word of the tweet literally.

Millions of users across the globe are still facing issues, with both Microsoft and CrowdStrike trying to resolve the issue at the earliest.

The latest version of its Falcon Sensor software was meant to make CrowdStrike clients’ systems more secure against hacking by updating the threats it defends against. However faulty code in the update files resulted in one of the most widespread tech outages in recent years for companies using Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Problems came to light quickly after the update was rolled out on Friday, and users posted pictures on social media of computers with blue screens displaying error messages. These are known in the industry as “blue screens of death.”

New Delhi:

Airports across India are still grappling with issues from yesterday’s massive Microsoft outage. Although the situation has improved significantly since Friday’s chaotic scenes, passengers continue to face challenges, particularly at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI).

At Delhi’s IGI Airport’s Terminal 3, passengers experienced some improvement today, but a few problems persist. Yesterday, the automatic self-drop baggage and check-in machines were non-functional, causing long queues outside Gate No. 5 in Terminal 3. While many passengers can print out their boarding passes today, international travellers still face issues with boarding pass generation, with some being issued manual passes inside the airport.

The Digi Yatra machines at Gates 1-3, which facilitate seamless entry, remain non-operational, necessitating manual entries. Display boards showing wait times, flight schedules, and other crucial information, which were down yesterday, are now functional. However, the overall system has not yet fully recovered, as confirmed by airport officials.

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport fared better than its counterparts in Delhi and Bengaluru. Although long queues were reported, operations are running more smoothly today. Nonetheless, two flights, one to Varanasi and one to Kochi, were cancelled this morning, and several international flights were rescheduled. This is an improvement from yesterday when nine domestic flights, all operated by IndiGo, were cancelled. IndiGo has warned of potential cancellations today but expressed optimism that yesterday’s disruption will not be repeated as the Microsoft outage was not reported today.

Global Outage

The outage, attributed to an update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, disrupted Microsoft’s Windows systems worldwide, affecting financial institutions, airlines, hospitals, and media channels. In India, this caused airline check-in systems to crash, leading to delays and the cancellation of dozens of flights. IndiGo alone cancelled around 200 flights, with hundreds more delayed as manual check-in procedures significantly slowed the process.

The Indian financial sector experienced minor disruptions at about ten banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), which have largely been resolved, according to the Reserve Bank of India. However, the outage’s impact on airports from Chennai to Delhi was severe, with passengers facing long queues due to unavailable web check-in services and manual ticketing processes.

Airlines such as IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, Air India, SpiceJet, and Air India Express acknowledged the issues via social media. Passengers received handwritten boarding passes, and the manual ticketing and luggage check-in process extended to 30-40 minutes per person, leading to frustration and overcrowded lounges.

Other Airports

Besides Delhi and Mumbai, high-density airports like Bengaluru and Chennai saw the most significant impacts. At Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, airlines such as IndiGo, Akasa, SpiceJet, and Air India Express initiated manual check-ins to ensure minimal disruption.  The technical glitch has been fully resolved at Bengaluru airport, and operations have returned to normal. However, there is slight congestion due to the residual impact of yesterday’s operational delays. Due to the backlog, it will take a few hours for the crowds to clear.

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport experienced cancellations of 23 flights, including IndiGo flights to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

Ministerial Assurances

Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu assured that the ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are managing the situation using manual methods to minimise disruption. Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the cause of the outage had been identified and that updates had been released to resolve the issue. According to the Aviation Ministry, systems at airports across the country started operating normally from 3 am this morning. 

“By noon today, we expect all issues to be resolved,” the ministry said in a statement. 

CrowdStrike confirmed the problem was due to a defect in a content update for Windows hosts and not a security incident or cyberattack.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized for a global tech failure that disrupted multiple industries on Friday, vowing to work with all of its customers as they work to get their operations back online.

“We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our company,” he told NBC News’ “Today” program.

“Many of the customers are rebooting the system and it’s coming up and it’ll be operational,” George Kurtz said. “It could be some time for some systems that won’t automatically recover,” he added, but the company “would make sure every customer is fully recovered.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Centre today issued an advisory on the outage of Microsoft Windows owing to CrowdStrike agent ‘Falcon Sensor’ update.

Union Minister for Railways, I&B, Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnav informed about the advisory on X social media platform, saying “CERT-In advisory on the outage of Microsoft”.

CERT-In advisory on the outage of Microsoft. https://t.co/QFo6oGqlCGpic.twitter.com/7vmR80cEII

— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) July 19, 2024

The CERT-In said it has been reported that Windows hosts related to Crowd strike agent “Falcon Sensor” are facing outages and getting crashed due to a recent update received in the product.

The concerned Windows hosts are experiencing a “Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)” related to Falcon Sensor.

“The issues occurred in the latest update of CrowdStrike and the changes have been reverted by the CrowdStrike Team,” said the cyber security agency, suggesting steps for customers to mitigate the issue.

Meanwhile, former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told IANS that he hopes Microsoft will restore its services soon. “Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Suite are used by millions of Indians. Any disruption on this platform disrupts the business and operations of many companies. The government will work with Microsoft to ensure that services are restored as soon as possible,” he said.
 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

A logo of RBI inside its office in New Delhi. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Microsoft said on July 19 that it is investigating a host of issues with Azure in the Central U.S. region, but users in India, and globally, are also raising complaints.

The outage has caused disruptions in air traffic, forcing airports to shift to manual operations. Brokerages and stock exchanges have also been hit as a result of the tech outage. Microsoft while acknowledging the outage has said “a resolution is forthcoming”.

Microsoft Outage LIVE

In a statement, the RBI said “Large scale outage in Microsoft Services is impacting IT systems globally leading to disruptions in various sectors. The Reserve Bank has made an assessment of the impact of this outage on its Regulated Entities. Critical systems of most banks are not in cloud and further, only a few banks are using the CrowdStrike tool. Our assessment shows that only 10 banks and NBFCs had minor disruptions which have either been resolved or are being resolved. Overall, the Indian financial sector in the Reserve Bank’s domain remains insulated from the global outage.”

The Reserve Bank has issued an Advisory on July 19 to its Regulated Entities for taking necessary steps to remain alert and ensure operational resilience and continuity.

New Delhi:

A Microsoft outage has crippled air travel across the world and several airports have suspended operations as airlines struggle to provide services such as online booking, web check-ins and flight status updates. Airlines are now checking in passengers manually and issuing handwritten boarding passes.

Back home, key airports such as Delhi and Bengaluru have been affected, leading to long queues and slow check-ins. Here’s what the situation is and how you must prepare if you need to fly today

Airlines Services Hit Hard

All air carriers operating in India have been hit by the Microsoft outage. Air India, Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air are putting out updates to guide passengers and inform them about the situation. Air India said its “digital systems have been impacted temporarily due to the current Microsoft outage, resulting in delays”. IndiGo warned that check-ins “may be slower and queues longer”. The low-cost carrier also said the option to rebook a flight or claim a refund is temporarily unavailable. SpiceJet said it is working closely with authorities to minimise disruptions. Akasa Air said its online services have been affected. Vistara, too, said it is facing technical challenges and is working to fix it at the earliest.

Chaos At Airports

The country’s key airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, are crippled due to the massive tech outage. Delhi airport said some of its services have been impacted and it is working to minimise the inconvenience to fliers. At Bengaluru, 90 per cent of flights operating out of Terminal 1 have been impacted and airlines are using manual methods to check passengers in. “A global outage with the Navitaire Departure Control System (NDCS) has been affecting operations of some airlines across their network, including BLR Airport since 10.40 IST on July 19, 2024,” a Bengaluru airport spokesperson said in a statement. Long queues were seen at major airports as passengers waited long for checking in. As many as 160 flights were affected in Hyderabad airport.

What’s Government Saying

Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu has said the ministry and Airports Authority of India (AAI) are actively managing the situation using manual methods to ensure minimal disruption.

“I have directed airport authorities and airlines to be compassionate and provide extra seating, water, and food for passengers affected by delays. We understand your concerns and are working tirelessly to ensure your safe and swift travel. Your patience and cooperation are greatly appreciated,” the minister said in a statement.

“Passengers are advised to cooperate with airport staff during this period of disruption. We have instructed all airlines and airport authorities to keep passengers informed about their flight status and provide necessary assistance,” he added.

How To Prepare For A Flight Today

Flyers have been advised to get to the airport well in advance, as manual check-ins take more time. They have also been urged to carry dry food items and water in case the wait stretches. Airlines are posting updates on their social media handles to warn passengers about delays. Most importantly, travellers must not panic or get agitated, say officials. It’s a global outage and the residual effect may run into hours.

Paris:

Paris Olympics organisers said on Friday they were experiencing problems linked to a major worldwide computer systems outage, a week before the Games’ opening ceremony takes place.

The issues came as a major outage wrought havoc on computer systems worldwide, grounding flights in the United States, derailing television broadcasts in the UK and impacting telecommunications in Australia.

“Paris 2024 is aware of global technical issues affecting Microsoft software. These issues are impacting Paris 2024’s IT operations,” organisers said.

“Paris 2024’s technical teams have been fully mobilised to mitigate the impacts of these issues and we have activated contingency plans in order to continue operations,” they added.

A source at the Paris Olympic Games organising committee said the problem is affecting the accreditation system with some people unable to pick up badges before next Friday’s ceremony on the River Seine.

The source added it could also affect the arrival of athletes who have had flights cancelled after the athletes’ Olympic village welcomed its first guests on Thursday.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE), airports in Spain, the Netherlands and Hong Kong as well as production at US carmaker Tesla’s plant outside Berlin have also been disrupted.

Microsoft said in a statement it was taking “mitigation actions” in response to service issues.

It was not clear if those were linked to the global outages.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)