The computer error that caused CrowdStrike through a failed update could have a reason simpler what it seems like. The test software according to the computer security company, was the link that failed when testing the update, since no errors of such magnitude were detected before launching the patch globally.
Crowdstrike decided to issue a statement on its website to discuss what happened on July 19 on Windows computers around the world. And, without going any further, the main problem was that the software that tests the patch did not detect this problem with the update, something that caused the chaos that occupied all the media last weekend.
Now, Crowdstrike Crowdstrike will have a long road ahead to clear its name, as the company was not well-known by the average citizen, despite having many years of experience behind it. With the passage of time, this error will gradually fade away from the public’s memory, but a critical situation like the one experienced by Crowdstrike can be enough to make any company falter with no way back.
Although the blocking of 8.5 million computers may seem, in raw figures, a tiny number compared to the billions of computers that operate daily in the world, the serious thing about all this is that this failure affected crucial logistical points, such as airports, train stations, and companies. With this, the feeling of collapse was multiplied, since, despite the fact that it was “only” 1 percent of Windows computers The impact of this fall affected many millions of people due to the consequences of the fall of so many services.
This also shows one of the negative sides of today’s globalized world, since, although progress has become much more uniform and there are fewer and fewer population gaps in aspects such as technology or the reach of companies, These types of problems also have a global impact. That is why the fall of Windows also had a serious impact in Spain, even though its epicentre was the United States. Crowdstrike, for its part, has already apologised for the mistake made and will work to ensure that such events do not happen again.
The cause of Microsoft’s global downfall
CrowdStrike is one of the players largest in the cybersecurity marketwith many contracts with the United States Government and North American companies. The company is already implementing measures to recover the systems and get them back up and running.
“The company admitted a flaw in an update to its CrowdStrike Falcon platform, one of the Windows protection systems. The impact only applies to computers with the Microsoft Windows operating system. and not to other operating systems such as Mac OS or Linux. This is evidenced by the appearance of the classic Windows blue screen, which indicates that the system has stopped responding,” Matías Sliafertas, CISO of BASE4 Security, an Argentine cybersecurity company, explained to Clarín.
“Being a security program, it has certain special permissions within each computer and each company, since it is responsible for managing a large part of local and network cybersecurity. That is why when the same system that protects us fails, what happens is that the program acts as if it were attacking itself and, in this particular case, a file was deleted that It is vital for the proper functioning of the system“That is exactly where the problem lies,” he said.
Some analysts talk about the “computer blackout” largest in history since WannaCry, a ransomware that paralyzed the world in 2017.
Crowdstrike leads the market in what is known as “Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)”, that is, real-time protection of devices, whether they are phones or computers.It has a significant stake in the cloud security sector The company has secured contracts with numerous Fortune 500 companies, which underlines its influence and reliability in the industry,” adds the specialist.