Americans share disappointment that huge Microsoft crash didn't affect their work computers
As workers across the world rebound back from a massive Microsoft crash which caused global chaos, Americans remain disappointed as their work computers continue to work perfectly.
The total blackout was caused by an update to Crowdstrike's 'Falcon Sensor' software which crashed, crippling all Windows run systems.
As a result, the operating system sent servers, desktop PCs, laptops and corporate computer terminals into a death spiral of reboots and the so-called 'blue screen of death', with the error message: 'DRIVER_OVERRAN_STACK_BUFFER'.
The update has wreaked havoc worldwide, with flights grounded, supermarkets having to close their doors, banks pushed offline and TV stations driven off the air.
But while many celebrated their work-free Friday, some Americans have instead been left downhearted after their Windows system remained operational - particularly their Microsoft Teams.
The total blackout was caused by an update to Crowdstrike's 'Falcon Sensor' software which crashed, crippling all Windows run systems
A disgruntled Microsoft user wrote on X: 'Microsoft outage but Teams and Outlook are both fine is the adult version of snow that doesn’t settle enough for a school closure.'
While another lamented: 'So pissed off. This outage hasn’t impacted my Microsoft Teams account or my email inbox but it HAS stopped the vending machine in the office from working.'
One user also joked: 'Americans and everyone running to Twitter to check why Microsoft ,global IT, Delta Airlines,American Airlines,Skynews,outage are trending...'
'people are annoyed that their Microsoft services are down I am annoyed that my Microsoft services aren't down and working fine,' another X user said.
A Windows owner sarcastically quipped: 'One of the biggest IT outages ever and Microsoft Teams is somehow still working.'
While another added: 'The world would end and @Microsoft teams would still open on the 3rd attempt.'
After the crash caused global panic, Crowdstrike released a statement clarifying what had happened.
'CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor,' the company admitted in a statement as the disaster unfolded worldwide.
'Symptoms include hosts experiencing a bugcheck/blue screen error related to the Falcon Sensor.
'Our engineering teams are actively working to resolve this issue and there is no need to open a support ticket.
'Status updates will be posted as we have more information to share, including when the issue is resolved,' the organization said.
Computer analysts believe a badly-written bit of code in the update triggered the catastrophe and wrecked computer networks worldwide.
After the crash caused global panic, Crowdstrike released a statement clarifying what had happened
Computer analysts believe a badly-written bit of code in the update triggered the catastrophe and wrecked computer networks worldwide
Experts have already come up with a partial workaround solution for some users which allows them to boot into a safe mode and rename the Crowdstrike folder.
But that will only work on computers with the lowest level of security protection.
And those with higher protection - which use Bitlocker hard disk security to protect data, which is used in the most secure systems and computers - may have to wait days before they can be fixed.
Crowdstrike was founded in 2011 by George Kurtz, Dmitri Alperovitch and Gregg Marston and launched its Falcon protection service two years later.
It floated on Nasdaq in 2019 with shares selling for US$83 five years ago, and its stock price has since soared to US$343.
It played a key role into the investigation into the hacking of the US Democratic party during the 2016 Presidential election which found Russian intelligence services had been involved.
It is one of the sponsors of the F1 Mercedes race team and provides cyber security protection for their vital data.
