this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2024
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I heard that CloudStrike is something that runs on Windows servers, and an error with it caused a bunch of Win Servers to crash. What's the impact of the issue too?

I'm not a tech person, tho I do use Linux desktop, btw 😉

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The correct name is CrowdStrike and it’s basically antivirus monitoring software that many organizations use on their computers/servers to warn of threats and provide protection through blocking the threats.

The issue was that CrowdStrike released an update that basically bricked Windows computers that were on and active. The driver file caused Windows to go into a constant “blue screen of death” that prevented people from logging into their computers/servers.

The main issue with this was the resolution which wasn’t easy. To fix, you had to reboot the machine into “safe mode” which is a mode of Windows that basically disables everything but the most essential Microsoft services and programs. Once in safe mode, you were able to delete the file and then reboot and then the machine would later pick up the newer update that wouldn’t brick your machine. The problem with this is that this had to be manually on each machine. No automated process was found (at the time of me looking at it, anyway) and many organizations have hundreds if not thousands or even millions, in some cases, of machines that this would have to be done on. Not only that, but this also affected user machines even those who work remotely. Imagine trying to walk a user with little to no technical experience through that process because you cannot use any sort of remote software to do this.

Because of all this, it led to mass chaos for many organizations. Turns out a lot of businesses were using this which caused the massive global impact.

They’re saying this is probably the worst global outage we’ve ever experienced as of yet because of this.

It should be noted that CrowdStrike is also compatible for Linux and Mac machines too but these weren’t affected because the bug was only compatible with Windows machines.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

To add to these guys, what it looked like in hospitals was all computers going blue screen of death on a loop. You would reboot and it would get to the desktop and go BSOD again. Communications with windows servers also went down.

The problem is, the safety plans are contingent on having windows working. There’s little to no contingent on no windows, people just expect it to always be there.

I and my team and all the individuals we ended up responsible for were fine by morning, but it was not a safe time.

911 was affected. Ambulance dispatch was affected. Many medical based institutions rely on windows and these security systems as well as airlines and such.

That said, please check on grandma, your favorite old uncle, single parent living solo, and all the rest today. There is no telling how many people are dead or injured in homes right now who couldn’t get through to emergency services last night. Maybe still can’t today.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 months ago

Crowd strike is an antivirus program that is installed on servers and laptops/desktops. The update corrupted a file that caused the operating system not to boot. The impact is thousands of hours of manual labor to recover these servers and endpoints. You have to do it in person unless your user is tech savvy enough to get into safe mode and delete a file. And you need admin rights