Countless businesses around the globe grappled with a significant cyber outage stemming from a faulty software update last week.
The cybersecurity powerhouse CrowdStrike unintentionally caused the disruption with a software update that impacted its clients who operated on Microsoft’s Windows Operating System. Fortunately, CrowdStrike’s CEO George Kurtz assured customers that the incident, which caused chaos in sectors like airlines and banking, was not a cybersecurity breach but rather a technical glitch that has since been rectified.
Various companies, including Visa, ADT Security, and Amazon, experienced disruptions, with users reporting issues such as declined bank cards and inability to access account balances or gift card balances on platforms like Down Detector.
Down Detector also noted a surge in outages at financial institutions like Chase Bank, Charles Schwab, and Bank of America since 2 a.m., though it was uncertain if these were directly related to the Microsoft outage.
Banks in several countries, including New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, India, and Germany, faced disruptions, prompting financial industry professionals to caution customers about potential market disturbances during transactions, as per Reuters.
Reports from the Los Angeles Times indicated that major Australian banks like NAB, Commonwealth, and Bendigo were affected, while a significant South African bank encountered service interruptions that hampered payment processing for its clients.
The New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency highlighted that a global IT outage impacted local businesses, specifically mentioning the banking sector, with reports of glitches at banks like ASB and Kiwibank, as stated by the Los Angeles Times.
Other industries worldwide also felt the impact, with occurrences such as Sky News in Britain going off-air, Australian phone providers like Telstra experiencing disruptions, and the British National Health Service facing operational challenges.
U.S.-based CrowdStrike, boasting a clientele exceeding 20,000 worldwide, serves over half of the Fortune 500 companies, solidifying its presence as a cybersecurity leader.