Crowdstrike boss George Kurtz has confirmed that a cyber attack that has taken down Microsoft systems across the globe this afternoon was the result of a “defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”.
The global outage, which is being described as one of the worst in history, took down Seven and Nine Networks, Qantas and Virgin Australia, Coles and Woolworths, government services, rail networks, airports across the country, Telstra and several major banks. Website Down Detector, which monitors tech outages, showed dozens of companies appeared to have been affected. Read here for a full list of what has been impacted by the outage.
In a statement on X this evening, Kurtz confirmed that “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”.
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
“This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed earlier that the Australian Government would conduct a National Coordination Mechanism meeting at 6pm this evening to chart a course in the wake of this crisis. Claire O’Neill, Home Affairs Minister, who attended the meeting confirmed in a statement that Crowdstrike was in attendance and that there is no evidence that this is a cyber-security incident.
“This is a technical issue, caused by a Crowdstrike update to its customers. They have issued a fix for this, allowing affected companies and organisations to reboot their systems without the problem,” she said. “The company has informed us that most issues should be resolved through the fix they have provided, but given the size and nature of this incident it may take some time to resolve”.
“Governments are closely engaged at all levels, focused on bringing together the affected parties and ensuring government entities institute the fix as quickly as possible. Further updates will be issued as required”.
When contacted by B&T a Microsoft spokesperson told us: “We’re aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform. We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming”.
