(USNewsBreak.com) – Microsoft rolled out an update meant to help its customers on Friday, July 19, but it did exactly the opposite. Instead, thousands of computers across multiple sectors had the blue screen of death. The update grounded planes, shut down emergency call centers, and made hospital records inaccessible. Companies have been scrambling to overcome the tech outage.
What Happened?
On the morning of July 19, many people arrived at work, the airport, or a hospital to find that the computers weren’t working. While thoughts immediately gravitated toward a cybersecurity attack, Microsoft clarified that the outage was due to an error, not malicious intent.
The tech giant pointed the finger at CrowdStrike, a US cybersecurity firm, for its faulty software update that upended many businesses around the country. That raised considerable concern, especially given how broad the reach between the two was and how one simple faulty error could paralyze entire industries.
CrowdStrike eventually issued a letter apologizing to its valued customers and partners, noting that it had “quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix” but acknowledging that the defect had a wide-reaching impact. Founder and CEO George Kurtz promised transparency moving forward in regards to “how this [error] occurred and steps [the company] is taking to prevent anything like this from happening again.”
Businesses Struggling to Reboot
While Microsoft and Crowdstrike promptly fixed the error, its impact set many industries, especially airlines, back significantly. Airports delayed or canceled flights, stranding travelers. Days later, some airlines were still struggling to resolve the backlog. According to The Washington Times, struggles were still plentiful on Sunday, with 1,461 flight cancellations. United Airlines and Delta sat at the top of the list.
The outage hit Delta particularly hard, causing the cancellation of more than 4,000 flights as of Monday. Making matters worse, the airline couldn’t use one of its tools to track crews, making it unable to process the changes effectively, even when the systems returned online. Delta has offered travel waivers to those affected as compensation.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg spoke with the airline and noted that it remained responsible for serving its customers and compensating them for gaps in service, whether that entailed a refund for those who changed their plans or reimbursement for a hotel stay and food for stranded travelers.
Lawmakers have already begun discussing whether Congress should become involved by crafting legislation to prevent such future outages. Those conversations will likely continue for the foreseeable future.
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