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Aniket Hingane
Aniket Hingane

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The Bug That Once Stopped the World

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Let’s Understand “The World-Stopping Null Pointer Exception”

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On July 19, 2024, CrowdStrike, a leading cybersecurity company, released a faulty update for its Falcon Sensor product that caused widespread outages affecting millions of Windows devices globally. This incident was not a cyberattack but rather a technical issue with the update itself.

Let’s understand What happened, and learn from it.
The problem primarily impacted Windows 10 and later systems, causing them to crash and display blue screen errors. Mac and Linux hosts were not affected. CrowdStrike quickly identified and isolated the issue, deploying a fix shortly after.

According to Microsoft, approximately 8.5 million Windows devices were taken offline by this faulty update, representing less than one percent of all Windows machines. However, the impact was significant due to CrowdStrike’s prominence in critical sectors such as airlines, federal agencies, hospitals, and banks.

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The outage led to numerous disruptions, including:
Flight cancellations and delays, with over 800 flights canceled and 1,500 delayed even days after the initial incident. Visible impacts in public spaces, with blue screens appearing in airports, stores, and even Times Square. Potential financial losses for affected companies, with many planning to file insurance claims.

First, What Is CrowdStrike?
CrowdStrike is a leading cybersecurity company that specializes in protecting computers and networks from cyber threats. Founded in 2011, CrowdStrike has become famous for its cloud-based security platform called Falcon. This platform helps organizations defend against various cyber attacks, including malware, ransomware, and hacking attempts. CrowdStrike’s approach is unique because it uses artificial intelligence and real-time threat intelligence to spot and stop attacks quickly.

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