Users of Microsoft services around the world, including banks and airlines, reported widespread outages on Friday, just hours after the technology company announced it was gradually working on fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 applications and services.
Lebanese telecommunications and computer engineer Salom Al-Dahdah revealed the main reason behind the "technical paralysis" that hit the world early Friday morning, affecting operations at airports, train stations, hospitals, and even power stations globally. Al-Dahdah stated, "Initial reports about the global computer system failure indicate that CrowdStrike, known for cybersecurity protection, performed an update on its system early today, which impacted its systems and those of companies using the CrowdStrike system, which is a very large company with significant influence over other businesses." He clarified that "this does not affect airplanes and air traffic directly but rather the ticketing and baggage systems because the system is not operational, meaning the technical paralysis is limited to computers and activities conducted via computers."
Specialized tech websites described what is happening as the appearance of the "Blue Screen of Death," which has affected Microsoft Windows operating systems, causing them to shut down suddenly or reboot. Users have been unable to access various Microsoft applications and services due to an error stemming from a recent update by the global cybersecurity company.
The technical glitch has been recorded across India, the United States, Australia, several European countries, as well as some countries in the Middle East. Images shared on social media showed users' screens stuck with a message stating: "It appears that Windows did not load correctly. If you would like to restart and try again, please select Restart my PC below."
Blue screen errors, sometimes referred to as black screen errors or stop code errors, can occur when a serious issue causes Windows to shut down or restart unexpectedly.
