Global Cyber Outage: How did Microsoft Crash Worldwide? | Vantage with Palki Sharma

Summary

A massive global cyber outage occurred due to a faulty security update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, affecting systems worldwide. The incident, starting at 7 PM GMT, caused widespread disruption across airports, banks, hospitals, and even Disneyland Paris, with the infamous 'blue screen of death' on Microsoft systems. The update, intended to enhance security, instead led to a global shutdown, highlighting the world's dependency on a few tech giants. The issue was resolved, but it raises concerns about the potential for intentional attacks and the need for system diversification to ensure resilience.

Takeaways

• 🌐 A massive cyber outage occurred globally, affecting various systems including airports, banks, hospitals, news studios, and Disneyland Paris.
• 🕗 The incident started at approximately 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, causing widespread chaos across different sectors.
• 💻 The infamous 'blue screen of death' from Microsoft was seen on computer monitors, indicating system crashes.
• ✈️ Airports worldwide faced significant disruptions, unable to update flight details, check-in passengers, or print boarding passes.
• 📚 Some airports, like Delhi, resorted to issuing handwritten boarding passes, while others canceled flights, leading to over a thousand cancellations in the US.
• 🏦 Banks and supermarkets in Australia were also affected, with checkout counters not functioning, leading to closures.
• 🏅 The organizers of the Olympics in Paris had to conduct manual security checks due to the failure of their accreditation desk.
• 🔍 The cyber outage was traced back to a security update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which did not interact well with Microsoft systems.
• 🛠️ CrowdStrike acknowledged the issue and announced that it had been resolved, deploying a fix to address the problem.
• 🚨 The CEO of CrowdStrike emphasized that the outage was not due to a security incident or cyber attack, highlighting the unintended consequences of the update.
• 🌳 The incident underscores the interconnectedness and dependency of the world on certain companies and their products, suggesting the need for diversification in systems and backups.

Q & A

What was the nature of the cyber incident mentioned in the script?

The cyber incident was a massive outage affecting systems worldwide, causing computer systems to shut down and display the 'blue screen of death', a term associated with Microsoft Windows system crashes.

What time did the cyber incident begin according to the script?

The incident began at about 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Which sectors were affected by the cyber outage as described in the script?

Sectors affected included airports, banks, hospitals, news studios, Disneyland Paris, and supermarkets in Australia.

How did the airports handle the inability to update flight details and check-in passengers?

Some airports, like Delhi airport, opted for a manual approach, issuing handwritten boarding passes, while others canceled flights.

Which airlines in the US were mentioned to have halted flights due to the cyber outage?

American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines were mentioned as having halted flights.

What was the cause of the cyber outage as revealed in the script?

The cause was identified as a problematic security update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which was rolled out across Microsoft computers.

What was the relationship between CrowdStrike and Microsoft that led to the widespread impact of the cyber outage?

CrowdStrike works with other companies, including Microsoft, and its security update was rolled out across Microsoft computers, leading to the widespread impact.

How did the CEO of CrowdStrike respond to the incident?

The CEO of CrowdStrike announced that the issue had been identified, isolated, and a fix had been deployed. He also clarified that the outage was not caused by a security incident or cyber attack.

What concerns were raised by the CEO of CrowdStrike in his message regarding the incident?

The CEO raised concerns about the potential for intentional harm if someone were to compromise systems on purpose, emphasizing the interconnectedness and dependency of the world on certain companies and their products.

What solution was suggested in the script to mitigate the risk of similar incidents in the future?

The script suggested diversification, such as maintaining backups and having alternative systems in place, to increase security against both mistakes and attacks.

What was the script's final message regarding the importance of not relying solely on one system or company?

The script emphasized the need to avoid putting 'all our eggs in one basket' to prevent days like the described incident from becoming more common, suggesting that diversification is key to resilience.

Outlines

00:00

💻 Global Cyber Outage Impacts Critical Systems

The script discusses a massive cyber incident that led to widespread system outages across the globe. It began at 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, affecting airports, banks, hospitals, news studios, and even Disneyland Paris. The infamous 'blue screen of death' was seen on computer monitors, causing significant disruptions. Airports faced issues with flight updates, check-ins, and boarding passes, leading to over a thousand flight cancellations in the US alone. Supermarkets in Australia closed due to non-functional checkout counters, and the Paris Olympics organizers had to conduct manual security checks. The cause of the outage was traced back to a security update from CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, which was rolled out across Microsoft systems and caused them to crash. The update was problematic and led to the global incident. CrowdStrike's CEO announced that the issue had been resolved, but the incident raised concerns about the potential for intentional cyber attacks. The script emphasizes the importance of diversifying systems and maintaining backups to increase security against both mistakes and attacks.

05:03

🏆 First Post's Coverage of T20 World Cup and Environmental Initiatives

This paragraph introduces the First Post's commitment to covering sports and current events beyond boundaries, highlighting their five million-strong community. The script mentions their dedication to bringing unfiltered news and the importance of nature and environmental initiatives. It also announces the T20 World Cup moving to the West Indies, with a special report on India's nuclear program. The script transitions to a live report from South Africa by Alex and a live broadcast from Washington DC by Ham, showcasing the global reach and diverse coverage of First Post.

Keywords

💡cyber outage

A cyber outage refers to a disruption in the operation of computer systems, networks, or digital services. In the video, it is the central theme, describing a massive incident that led to systems going down globally, affecting various sectors such as airports, banks, and hospitals. The script mentions this outage as 'one of the biggest' and details its widespread impact, illustrating the concept through examples like handwritten boarding passes and flight cancellations.

💡blue screen of death

The 'blue screen of death' is a colloquial term for a critical system error in Windows operating systems, characterized by a blue error screen that prevents normal use of the computer. The script uses this term to describe the widespread system failures caused by the cyber outage, emphasizing the severity of the incident by stating 'almost everyone saw it'.

💡CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity firm that provides antivirus software and investigates cyber attacks. The script identifies CrowdStrike as the company responsible for the cyber outage due to a problematic security update. This keyword is crucial as it links the cause of the incident to a company in the business of preventing such events, highlighting the irony and impact of the situation.

💡security update

A security update in the context of the script refers to a software patch or upgrade intended to improve the security of a system. The CrowdStrike security update mentioned in the script is the 'smoking gun' that caused the global cyber outage, demonstrating how an intended protective measure can inadvertently lead to widespread disruption.

💡Microsoft

Microsoft is a leading technology company known for its Windows operating system. The script explains that the CrowdStrike update was rolled out across Microsoft computers, causing them to crash and display the blue screen of death. This keyword is vital as it shows how a single company's systems can affect global operations, given Microsoft's widespread use.

💡global outage

A global outage implies a disruption of services or systems that affects multiple regions or countries simultaneously. The script describes the incident as a 'global outage' to emphasize the scale of the problem, with effects ranging from flight cancellations to manual security checks at the Olympics in Paris.

💡alternative systems

The term 'alternative systems' in the script suggests the use of different technologies or platforms as a backup or diversification strategy. The CEO's message from CrowdStrike highlights that only Windows was affected, implying that having alternatives like Mac and Linux could have mitigated the impact of the outage.

💡diversification

Diversification, in the context of the script, refers to the strategy of using multiple types of systems or technologies to reduce reliance on a single source. The script suggests diversification as a solution to prevent future outages, pointing out that maintaining backups and alternative systems can increase security against both mistakes and attacks.

💡backups

Backups are copies of data or systems kept for recovery in case of loss or failure. The script mentions the importance of backups as part of a diversification strategy, implying that having a backup system in place could help continue operations during an outage.

💡connected world

A 'connected world' refers to the global interdependence facilitated by technology and digital networks. The script uses this concept to discuss the vulnerability of a world that relies heavily on certain companies and their products, suggesting that a compromise in one area can cause a setback across the globe.

💡inconvenience

In the script, 'inconvenience' is used to describe the disruption to daily activities caused by the cyber outage. It highlights the personal impact of such an event, from passengers unable to check in for flights to the organizers of the Olympics having to conduct manual security checks.

Highlights

One of the biggest cyber outages in history occurred, affecting systems worldwide starting at 7:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time.

Chaos ensued in airports, banks, hospitals, news studios, and Disneyland Paris as computer monitors displayed the infamous 'blue screen of death'.

Airports globally faced issues, unable to update flight details, check-in passengers, or print boarding passes, leading to over a thousand flight cancellations in the US.

American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines halted flights, while KLM and Berlin airport suspended most operations, and Swiss air traffic was cut by 30%.

Supermarkets in Australia closed due to non-functioning checkout counters, and the Paris Olympics organizers had to conduct manual security checks.

The cyber outage was traced back to a security update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which caused widespread damage when rolled out across Microsoft computers.

CrowdStrike's security update did not react well with Microsoft systems, causing them to crash and display the blue screen of death.

Microsoft's global reach meant that when their systems went down, companies and services around the world were impacted.

The issue was resolved and CrowdStrike's CEO announced that the problem had been identified, isolated, and a fix deployed.

The CEO clarified that the outage was not caused by a security incident or cyber attack, but was an unintended mistake.

The incident raises concerns about the world's dependence on certain companies and their products, and the potential for major setbacks if they are compromised.

Diversifying and maintaining backups or alternative systems can increase security against both mistakes and attacks.

The CEO's message suggests that not all systems were affected, indicating the importance of having diverse technology options.

The incident serves as a reminder of the potential consequences of relying too heavily on a single technology or company.

The First Post news source aims to provide diverse perspectives on important issues and go beyond boundaries in coverage.

First Post is celebrating five million strong support and trusts viewers to bring unfiltered and unbiased news.

The T20 World Cup moves to the West East, with First P America providing live coverage from Washington DC.

Transcripts

now let's talk about today's cyber

incident it was one of the biggest cyber

outages to have ever taken place systems

went down across the world it started

last evening at about 700 p.m. Grenich

mean time that's when the chaos began in

airports Banks hospitals news Studios

and even in Disneyland Paris people in

all these places saw something ominous

all of the computer monitors uh were um

essentially shut down blue screen of

death Microsoft's Infamous blue screen

of death almost everyone saw it today

airports around the world faced issues

they could not update flight details

check-in passengers or even print

boarding passes some of them like Delhi

airport opted for a manual approach they

started issuing handwritten boarding

passes others canceled flights there

were over a thousand cancellations in

the US American Airlines Delta Airlines

United Airlines all halted flights the

Dutch Airline KLM suspended most of its

operations Berlin airport halted all

flights air traffic in Switzerland was

cut by 30% every corner of the world was

affected and again it wasn't just air

travel supermarkets in Australia were

shut because their checkout counters

weren't working in Paris the organizers

of the Olympics were facing issues they

had to conduct manual Security checks

because their accrediation desk was down

so you can see how widespread said this

problem was but how did it happen what

led to the Cyber outage that affected

every corner of the globe well here's

the Smoking Gun listen to this thank you

for contacting Crow strike support Crow

strike is aware of reports of crashes on

Windows horse related to the Falon

sensor please monitor the status while

the check alert on our customer support

portal the outage was caused by this

company crowd strike ironically it's a

cyber security firm a company that makes

antivirus softwares and investigates

cyber attacks this is the company that

messed up now you may wonder how did it

cause such widespread damage after all

many of you may never have even heard of

its name so how did it access so many

computers all over the world well Cloud

strike works with other companies and

one of its clients is Microsoft Cloud

strike put out a security update

yesterday at about 700 p.m. GMT this

update was rolled out across Microsoft

computers and that is how the Cyber

incident began there was a problem with

the update it did not react well with

Microsoft systems it caused them to

crash and display the dreaded blue

screen of death that's it that is the

reason for the global outage an

automated security update took down

Microsoft and in turn Microsoft took

down companies all over the world

because this is Microsoft the most

widely used operating system in the

world if Microsoft goes down the world

grinds to a Hal and that's what happened

today the issue has been resolved now as

Cloud strike was more than eager to

announce this is a message from their

CEO he said that the issue had been

identified and isolated and a fix had

been

deployed but his message also raised a

few other concerns he insisted that the

outage was was not caused by a security

incident or a Cyber attack he was very

clear about that that means that all the

damage done today was by

mistake but what happens if someone

tries to do it on purpose think about it

today prove that the entire world is

indeed connected and completely

dependent on certain companies and their

products if any of these are compromise

the world will face a major setback

millions of people will be

inconvenienced businesses will lose

billions and will be sent back to the

Stone Age it's a scary thought so what

can we do well we cannot disconnect that

would also set the world back but we can

diversify look at the cloud strike CEO's

message again he said that today's issue

only affected windows and that Mac and

Linux were not

impacted so if we maintain backups if we

can turn to Alternative systems during

times of trouble we would be more secure

against both mistakes and attacks it is

not a costeffective solution but it may

be the only one that we have right now

because if we do not diversify if you

put all our eggs in just one basket days

like today will become more and more

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[Music]

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warms nature Sentinels will

rise as a billion hands will dig

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on today the T20 World Cup move across

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expect hello I'm Alex coming to you from

South Africa today we have a

special start with a report on India sh

nuclear the first time since off

became hello and welcome to First P

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the nation's capital in Washington DC

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