“Fatal error”: Windows computer outage affects airlines, banks and media around the world

Some of the world’s major banks, airlines and media outlets have been affected in recent hours by a global computer blackout.

The flaw is associated with the Windows operating system and has impacted flights, radio and television broadcasts, and operations of supermarkets and banks, due to a disconnection after computer screens turned blue and displayed the message “fatal error”.

An update to an antivirus program from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike has been blamed for the flaw.

The CEO of CrowdstrikeGeorge Kurz, stated that they had identified the “defect” and implemented a fix.

Sky satellite channel was initially off the air in Australia, but has now regained its signal, according to the latest reports. But Sydney airport has grounded all planes.

The BBC’s correspondent in the city reported confusion and scenes of chaos as screens went black and passengers were unable to check in for their flights.

In Japan, Narita Airport, about 60km from Tokyo, reports that airlines JetStar, Jeju Air, Quatas, HK Express and Spring Japan are experiencing problems with their systems.

The same thing is happening at multiple airports in Europe and the rest of the world. In Spain, long queues have formed at Barajas and other airports, with numerous flights delayed due to an “incident” in their systems.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is also experiencing delays. Dutch airline KLM said the Flight management is “impossible” The company has had to suspend many of its operations, although it said it was “working hard to resolve the problem.”

In the United States, airlines United, Delta and American Airlines issued a “stop on global ground” for all your flights.

In India, meanwhile, the Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi decided resort to a manual system because their electronic terminals and screens with flight information are inoperable.

Passengers have been ordered to fill out blank boarding passes with their details, as well as luggage identification tags.

The company responsible for the failure

Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity company founded in 2011 responsible for Protecting the world’s largest companies and systems from attacks and vulnerabilities was pointed out as the culprit of the failure.

Earlier, American Airlines, the world’s largest airline by passenger numbers, blamed the cybersecurity firm for “technical issues… that are impacting multiple carriers.”

George Kurtz, CEO and co-founder of Crowdstrike, acknowledged the problem and issued the following statement:

“Crowdstrike is actively working with customers impacted by a flaw found in a unique content update for Windows servers”

He expressed that Mac and Linux servers are not affected and assured that the incident was not related to security or a cyber attack.

“The problem has been identified, isolated and a fix has been implemented,” he added.

“Our team is fully deployed to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike customers.”

What is Crowdstrike

The company specializes in endpoint security protection to prevent malicious programs from attacking corporate networks from the devices that connect to them, such as cell phones and laptops.

Its aim is also to protect data that companies have transferred from their own servers to so-called cloud servers.

The company, founded by George Kurtz and Dmitri Alperovitch, is based in Austin, Texas, and has been publicly traded since 2019.

Since its launch, the company has played a key role in helping companies investigate cyberattacks.

In 2016, the US Democratic National Committee – the strategic arm of the Democratic Party – requested the services of Crowdstrike to investigate an intrusion into its computer network.

BBC business editor Faisal Islam says Crowdstrike lost a fifth of its value on the US stock exchange on Friday.

If this is confirmed when the markets open, the company would register a loss of US$16 billion in value in one day.

Other services impacted

In the UK, the London Stock Exchange platform was the first to experience problems, which it was later able to resolve.

But the British capital’s busy rail lines have warned passengers of delays, saying they have suffered “extensive computer problems”.

The NHS has reported problems with its appointment system, consultations and access to medical records. One doctor told the BBC that He is only seeing patients who are “seriously” ill..

In Germany, two hospitals have also been forced to cancel non-urgent operations, but emergency services will continue as normal.

Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics organizing committee said its IT systems have also been affected.

He points out, however, that with just one week to go until the opening of the Games, they have contingency plans.