A CrowdStrike update crashed the world's computers. What comes next?

Chaos continues at airports, hospitals, banks and more, thanks to Windows crashing worldwide. [View in browser]( | [Your newsletter preferences]( 07.19.24 [Airports](, banks, TV stations, [health care organizations](, hotels, and countless other businesses are still reeling from widespread IT outages, leaving flights grounded and causing untold disruption. The cause? A software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that crashed Windows machines across the globe. Only a handful of times in history has a single piece of code managed to instantly wreck computer systems worldwide. This time, the [ongoing digital catastrophe]( appears to have been triggered not by malicious code released by hackers but by the software designed to stop them. Here’s [how it happened](, how it’s impacting the world, and where we go from here.   [Image may contain: Cutlery, Fork, Electronics, Logo, and Hardware]( [How One Bad CrowdStrike Update Crashed the World’s Computers]( BY LILY HAY NEWMAN, MATT BURGESS, AND ANDY GREENBERG | 6-MINUTE READ [A defective CrowdStrike kernel driver sent computers around the globe into a reboot death spiral, taking down air travel, hospitals, banks, and more with it. Here’s how that’s possible.](     [Travelers wait, following a global outage impacting computer systems, at Berlin Brandenburg Airport]( [Why the Global Crowdstrike Outage Hit Airports So Hard]( BY AARIAN MARSHALL | 3-MINUTE READ [The aviation industry is optimized within an inch of its life. A bad software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike took down computers running Microsoft Windows—and a cascade of airports with it.](     [A photo of an Anesthetist checking parameters gas and bloodstream of external heart on monitor during open heart surgery.]( [Hospitals Around the World Are Struggling in the Aftermath of the Great IT Meltdown]( BY DAVID COX | 5-MINUTE READ [Doctors find themselves without critical systems and diagnostic tools and faced with the daunting reality that a full recovery could take days after CrowdStrike’s botched deployment of a software update.](     [The CrowdStrike logo seen on an office building]( [Don’t Fall for CrowdStrike Outage Scams]( BY LILY HAY NEWMAN | 2-MINUTE READ [Swindlers are spinning up bogus websites in an attempt to dupe people with “CrowdStrike support” scams following the security firm’s catastrophic software update.](     [Wad of cash in a shirt pocket]( [The Global CrowdStrike Outage Triggered a Surprise Return to Cash]( BY CAROLINE HASKINS | 2-MINUTE READ [The event caused chaos at airports, grocery stores, and Starbucks outlets.](     [Image may contain: Logo, and Terminal]( [How It Started: Huge Microsoft Outage Linked to CrowdStrike Takes Down Computers Around the World]( BY MATT BURGESS | 4-MINUTE READ [A software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike appears to have inadvertently disrupted IT systems globally.](     ADVERTISEMENT [GET WIRED]( [The future is happening fast. Stay ahead of it with WIRED. Get full tech coverage with a subscription to WIRED for just $30 $5. Plus free stickers!]( [Subscribe Now.](   [WIRED logo image]( Thanks for reading. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Sign up here](. Plus, [browse more newsletters]( from WIRED. [(image) WIRED on Facebook]( [(image) WIRED on Twitter]( [(image) WIRED on Instagram]( [TikTok]( [(image) WIRED on LinkedIn]( [(image) WIRED on YouTube]( [Podcasts](   You’re receiving this email because you signed up for the Daily newsletter from WIRED. [Manage your preferences]( | [View our Privacy Policy]( | [Unsubscribe]( Have questions or comments? [Send us a message](mailto:hello@wired.com?subject=Daily newsletter feedback). Need help? [Contact us](. Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.