'Blue Screen of Death' in Windows computers across globe as several services disrupted due to CrowdStrike error

NEW YORK: A global outage of Windows has affected countless computers across several countries on Friday as many users experienced "Blue Screen of Death" (BSoD). The computers crashed suddenly, and the screen turned blue after a software update from CrowdStrike, a US-based cybersecurity company.

The update affected the Windows 10 operating system, causing computers to reboot repeatedly. Microsoft 365 and cloud computing services were also disrupted. The attack impacted many countries, including India, the US, Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.

The issue started at 3:26 AM Indian time yesterday and affected systems across the globe. Windows operating systems account for 80% of the world's computers.

CrowdStrike's Falcon software, which is used for cybersecurity, is believed to be the cause of the issue. The software update likely contained a virus, which affected the computers. The issue caused widespread disruptions in flight services like online booking, check-in, and boarding passes. Many flights were canceled, and airport counters were overcrowded.

Government offices, banks, telecom companies, TV and radio stations, supermarkets, hospitals, and media outlets were all affected. The outage also impacted the stock exchange, and trading was halted. It also affected Manchester United's website and ticket sales were disrupted.

The issue caused difficulties for news agencies as well. The websites and apps of many institutions were down. Bank servers were also affected, and trading was halted at the London Stock Exchange. The issue is expected to take weeks to resolve, and it may take a long time to fix the affected computers manually.