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CROWDSTRIKE, a cybersecurity company, caused a Microsoft outage after an update failed – the effects have extended to drivers.
Even Times Square wasn’t immune to the dreaded “blue screen of death.”
A Microsoft outage affected the way people can make payments, with many businesses demanding cash only[/caption]
Thousands of flights were canceled due to the outage, stranding travelers[/caption]
The outage affected how people can pay for traffic or parking tickets[/caption]
Several businesses fell victim to the Microsoft outage, including airports, causing nearly 1,800 flights to be canceled and grounded as key systems became inaccessible.
Microsoft posted an update on X this morning, saying the company is working to solve the issue.
Crowdstrike confirmed the outage is not due to a cyberattack, but an overnight update that failed.
Aside from transportation taking a hit, it also affected the way people could make payments towards parking and traffic tickets.
Jennifer Lewke, a reporter for NBC affiliate WHEC, wrote on X that New Yorkers in Rochester were having issues navigating the city’s website for managing tickets.
“The City’s parking, traffic violations, and building/zoning offices are impacted by the outage, so they are closed today,” her post read.
Otherwise, she wrote other systems were back online.
“All public safety systems are functional using a backup system. Trash pickup/water systems are fully functional. Payment windows at City Hall are open,” her post continued.
However, it’s unclear how long the outage will last for these systems.
Al Lakhani, the CEO of security firm IDEE, told The U.S. Sun in an exclusive interview that the outage could take much longer to resolve than experts think.
“The fallout from incidents like these can be extensive and prolonged,” he said.
“In terms of restoring every affected computer to full operation, the recovery could span hours, days, or even weeks.”
Aside from being unable to pay for parking tickets, drivers are also affected at the DMV.
Several drivers arrived at the branch in Hauppage on Long Island in New York for various tasks and ended up waiting for hours, according to News Day.
“What a mess,” said Eric Bammann, who arrived to turn in some license plates.
He felt impatient with the outage, not understanding how it happened or why it lasted so long.
Outage could take 'weeks' to resolve
Tech experts have told The U.S. Sun that even though an official fix has been released for the Microsoft outage, problems related to the blackout will continue to last.
Al Lakhani, CEO of security firm IDEE, said that the issues could persist for weeks.
“The fallout from incidents like these can be extensive and prolonged,” Lakhani said.
“In terms of restoring every affected computer to full operation, the recovery could span hours, days, or even weeks.
“This is because it is a supply chain attack. These are particularly damaging because a single compromised software update can impact thousands of organizations globally.
“Leading to severe consequences including service disruptions, theft of intellectual property, and threats to national security.”
Another security expert Adam Pilton told The U.S. Sun that it will take days for bigger businesses to recover.
“Depending upon the size of the organization will determine the recovery time,” said Adam, senior cybersecurity expert at Cybersmart, speaking to The U.S. Sun.
“CrowdStrike has released a fix and provided guidance which is working for many users.
“For smaller organizations, this will take hours, for larger organizations this may take days to resolve.”
Martin Jartelius, chief security officer at Outpost24, told The U.S. Sun that some affected computers might have to be manually repaired.
“For those impacted, if their systems did not get the erroneous update then that is a positive,” Jartelius said.
“If they did get the update, some seem to be able to get up and running and they will fix themselves.
“Others will currently have a workaround to get the good update and have some hands-on support, including boot into safe mode and removing some files, expect this to be done swiftly for any systems that need a high availability.
“But expect the cleanup in IT-departments to potentially drag out over the summer vacation period.
“So, where it really matters, this should not be too hard to fix, but it will cost time and effort.”
“All the computer geeks — you would think they could figure it out… There’s nothing you can do about it. It’s not fun.”
Dennis Herbst came to the DMV to pay a fine and waited for three and a half hours before giving up and going home.
“I thought it might have been something local,” he said.
“As long as I am breathing, I don’t care. This is not critical. This is not life or death.”
Brenda Gomez, however, felt stuck and frustrated being unable to renew her driver’s license.
“This is very upsetting,” she said.
