CrowdStrike says this bug in the test software caused global tech outage: All the details

CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company that caused a global computer outage last week on multiple Windows PCs worldwide, has now issued an update regarding the cause of the breakdown. According to a new post by the company, a bug in its quality control system was the main cause of this issue. The problem involved an “undetected error” in the content-configuration update for its Falcon platform affecting Windows machines.

CrowdStrike is also promising more thorough testing of its content updates in the future, improving its error handling, and implementing a staggered deployment to avoid such major issues in the future. Further, the cybersecurity firm added, “Due to a bug in the Content Validator, one of the two Template Instances passed validation despite containing problematic content data.”

The extent of the massive global outage from the botched update is still being assessed. However, both Microsoft and CrowdStrike have confirmed that about 8.5 million Windows devices have been affected. A wide range of industries were hit by this issue and users were confronted with a ‘Blue screens of death’ (BSOD) error on their Windows PCs, that made accessing their PCs impossible.

The airline industry was hit most visibly by this bug, with US Airways carrier Delta Airlines being the most affected. Many local Indian IT firms and airlines also had to stop their operations briefly before the issue was rectified.