Millions of Windows computers are experiencing a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) issue today, affecting banks, TV broadcasters, airline companies, supermarkets, and other businesses worldwide. The problem arose from a faulty update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, causing affected PCs and servers to enter a recovery boot loop, preventing them from booting properly. This issue is not caused by Microsoft but by CrowdStrike’s widely used antivirus software for managing Windows PC and server security.
UK broadcaster Sky News couldn’t air its morning news for hours, displaying an apology message instead. Ryanair, a major European airline, reported IT issues impacting flight departures. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assisted airlines like Delta, United, and American Airlines with communication problems, and several airlines have requested ground stops until the issue is resolved. Berlin airport warned of travel delays due to technical issues, and many 911 emergency call centers in Alaska were also affected.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz stated on X that they are working with affected customers to resolve the issue, which does not impact Mac and Linux systems and is not a security incident or cyberattack. The problem arose from a kernel-level driver update, and while CrowdStrike has rolled back the faulty update, already impacted machines remained a challenge for IT administrators.
On Reddit, IT admins are discussing the widespread issues and suggesting workarounds like booting into safe mode and deleting a specific system file in the CrowdStrike directory. This solution is problematic for some cloud-based servers and remote Windows laptops.
In a separate issue, Microsoft is also recovering from problems with its Microsoft 365 apps and services due to a configuration change in part of its Azure backend.