Windows users worldwide faced severe disruptions on Friday due to a massive outage that caused widespread “blue screens of death” (BSOD) and system logouts. Dubbed a “cyber pandemic,” the blackout significantly impacted several global institutions, including stock markets, banks, and airports.
Microsoft reported that the issue began around 6 pm ET on Thursday, affecting multiple Azure services in the Central US region. The American cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike acknowledged that its Falcon Sensor contributed to the crashes, stating that hosts experienced BSOD errors due to a defect in a single content update for Windows hosts. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz assured users that Mac and Linux systems were unaffected and that the incident was not a security breach or cyberattack.
Microsoft 365 also confirmed an ongoing investigation into issues preventing users from accessing various Microsoft 365 apps and services. Efforts are underway to reroute affected traffic to stable infrastructure.
The outage map from DownDetector.com highlighted numerous US cities experiencing significant disruptions, with Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa, New York, St. Louis, San Francisco, Phoenix, Houston, Chicago, and Washington among the hardest hit.
Critical services affected included:
- Major airlines such as American, Delta, United, Frontier, Allegiant, and SunCountry experienced communication difficulties, leading to grounded flights.
- The Associated Press reported service disruptions.
- Azure cloud services.
- Financial and banking institutions.
Additionally, The Economic Times noted that the outage affected the Microsoft 365 admin center, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Purview, PowerBI, and Viva Engage.
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