CrowdStrike Cyber Outage: Canada Impacted as Well

A global cyber outage has disrupted banking, airlines, and media due to a faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike, causing widespread issues including the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on Windows machines. This was due to the company’s Falcon Sensor software update that was wreaking havoc on Windows machines.

This outage has led to significant disruptions, including grounded flights and suspended services in several sectors worldwide, impacting payment systems in Australia and the UK, and disrupting 911 services in multiple US states. The London Stock Exchange and Sky News were also affected.

Flightaware data shows over 3,200 flights cancelled worldwide today.

George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, clarified that the issue is not a cyberattack. “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed.”

“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers,” said Kurtz, who didn’t include an apology in his statement.

CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We…

— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024

In Canada, hospitals affected include Dynacare in Ontario and Manitoba, Vancouver Coastal Health, Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, and University Health Network in Toronto.

Also, Porter Airlines has canceled flights until 3pm on Friday. It also appears that TD Canada has been affected by this outage, as some are saying on X that they did not get their direct deposits.

Telus told CTV News that its tools and systems for customer support were not accessible by some employees.

Of course, the memes again won the day.

First day at Crowdstrike, pushed a little update and taking the afternoon off ✌️ pic.twitter.com/bOs4qAKwu0

— Vincent Flibustier 👽 (@vinceflibustier) July 19, 2024

Waking up as a Linux user today #Crowdstrike pic.twitter.com/rkC4hGQhLY

— It's FOSS (@itsfoss2) July 19, 2024

Mac users watching the #Crowdstrike debacle: pic.twitter.com/Pn3XVZsnfx

— ᴺᴼᵀ Jony Ive (@JonyIveParody) July 19, 2024

It’s pretty crazy how one company’s software update can literally disrupt the globe. What other Canadian companies have you seen affected by this CrowdStrike snafu?