Tech

Crowdstrike says the global IT outage was not caused by a cyberattack

George_kurtz CrowdStrike
George Kurtz is CEO of Crowdstrike, the cybersecurity firm linked to a mass IT outage. CrowdStrike
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Crowdstrike, the firm linked to the major global IT outage, has ruled out a cyberattack.

In a statement on X, CEO George Kurtz said the outage was "not a security incident or cyberattack."

He said the company was "actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted."

Kurtz said the issue had been "identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed." Customers were being referred to its support portal for the latest updates.

"We further recommend organizations ensure they're communicating with Crowdstrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike customers," he said.

Crowdstrike made the same comments in a statement on its website.

The outage has thrown airports, retailers, hospitals, and many other businesses into chaos.

Airlines, including United, Delta, American, and Allegiant, have all grounded flights due to the mass outage. European airlines Ryanair and KLM have also been affected.

American Airlines said its problems were due to a "technical issue with Crowdstrike that is impacting multiple carriers," BBC News reported.

Some emergency lines, hospitals, and GPs have faced disruptions linked to the outage.

Microsoft users have also complained of issues. The company acknowledged the problems in an X update early Friday, later adding: "The underlying cause has been fixed, however, residual impact is continuing to affect some Microsoft 365 apps and services. We're conducting additional mitigations to provide relief."

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Beatrice Nolan was a tech reporter on the business news team in the UK. She joined Insider in January 2022 as a fellow on Business Insider's careers desk. Beatrice covered tech and the future of work, with a focus on artificial intelligence. Some of her stories and early experiments with ChatGPT are widely cited. Beatrice has also discussed her work covering AI trends on panels and radio shows, including NPR.She was based in Business Insider's London office and graduated from the University of  York with a bachelor's degree in English.Featured Articles:Artists say AI image generators are copying their style to make thousands of new images — and it's completely out of their control.ChatGPT was a black swan eventFinland is the world's happiest country, but Finns say we're confusing happiness for something elseThe world is splitting between those who use ChatGPT to get better, smarter, richer — and everyone elseThis man used AI to write and illustrate a children's book in one weekend. He wasn't prepared for the backlash.ChatGPT has only been around for 2 months and is causing untold chaosTwo professors who say they caught students cheating on essays with ChatGPT explain why AI plagiarism can be hard to proveChatGPT wrote college application essays. Admissions professionals said they passed for essays written by students but wouldn't have a chance at any top colleges.College professors are considering creative ways to stop students from using AI to cheatChatGPT wrote my cover letters. Here's how recruiters responded.