Microsoft outage cause Explained | Why it happened, What is the reason, BSOD | What is CrowdStrike

the Microsoft outage on Friday 19th divided the world into two parts one that love the fact that it's going to be an easy long weekend and the other well let's just say it was a nightmare of an event for them and in many ways it definitely looked like a trailer to such an event so what exactly happened to millions of Microsoft users on Friday and when I say users I'm not just talking about individuals like you and me I'm also talking about Airlines Banks and thousands of businesses worldwide on Friday millions of Microsoft devices experienced the dreaded blue screen also known as black screen of death and this was caused by a well-known cyber security company crowd strikes Falcon sensor software or more specifically it was an issue in an update of Falcon sensor so let's Deep dive and see what is the cause behind it in the words of crowd strike CEO George Curts the issue was caused by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts you see just like any programs and apps even Falcon sensors frequently and automatically updated and as you can imagine there is a small but definite risk that one of these software updates will not be compatible with other programs on a device and in this case that is exactly what happened all Microsoft systems was sent an update and that update had a software bug in it and caused an issue with the Microsoft Operating System since this single line of code affected only Windows machines Mac and Linux devices were not affected by this issue but can a single line of code really lead to such a vast and widespread outage on a global scale the simple answer is yes you have to understand that the Falcon sensor is deeply integrated with the Windows operating system and what does Falcon sensor do it operates at the kernel level let me also explain what kernel level is the kernel level is a fundamental part of a computer's operating system and it's responsible for managing the core functions of the computer in simple words imagine your computer is like a big office building the kernel is like the building's management team now you can imagine if the Falcon sensor is so deeply integrated with the Windows operating system that also means the Windows operating system has given access to the Falcon sensor for monitoring and protection of the system at a very low level this level of access is crucial for detecting and mitigating sophisticated threats that may bypass user level defenses now due to this deep integration with the Windows operating system the Falcon sensor receives regular updates as part of the routine Windows updates but this time there was a faulty line of code in the Falcon sensor update as you all know in the world of computer coding a faulty line of code can create Havoc if the code contains an error it can give the operating software incorrect instructions these instructions could lead to various issues depending on the nature of the fault common consequences of faulty kernel level code include system crashes like blue screen of death unexpected reboots Hardware malfunctions or software programs not functioning properly in severe cases faulty code can create security vulnerabilities that that could be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to the system now the important thing to understand over here is that the technical glitch only happened to the Microsoft operating software that was running on an Enterprise computer in simple words computers that are used in business and organizational setting rather than on personal or home use in case you're wondering why you your Dad or Mom or siblings or any relatives didn't experience this issue on their personal laptops you may think it's due to good luck but more than that it was also economics you see crowd strike is a cyber security company that works with businesses who need robust Cyber attack protection and not just that they have a 1,000 user minimum licensing requirement so it is unlikely that an end user at home would be using a software like Falcon sensor and that is the reason we did not receive any update and hence we were Untouched by this outage now as you all know Microsoft Windows is the most widely used operating system in Enterprise environments directly or indirectly almost any business or organization that uses Microsoft operating system was affected by this outage airports and flights across the world were either delayed or canceled altogether Banks were also affected to the extent that users had difficulty in logging into their accounts now this incident has given us an example of how a single faulty line of code can cause vulnerability of our Tech dependent Society modern economics rely heavily on interconnected systems businesses governments and individuals use technology for commun communication transactions and critical infrastructure Control software companies invest heavily in testing and security measures to minimize bugs and vulnerabilities regular updates and patches are crucial in keeping systems stable but still such incidents are not 100% avoidable this is why rigorous testing code reviews and debugging are essential parts of the software development process to identify and fix any issues before the software is released the key is to find a balance between Innovation and stability to minimize the risk of any outage causing major economic disruptions