Microsoft Users Face 'Blue Screen of Death' After IT Outage
The issues stem from a recent update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Microsoft users globally are facing the notorious “blue screen of death” amid ongoing widespread tech outages. The issues stem from a recent update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which has caused significant disruptions not only for Microsoft but also for various other businesses.[1]
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In an update on its 365 Status X account, Microsoft acknowledged the problem, stating, “We’re aware of an issue with Windows 365 Cloud PCs caused by a recent update to CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor software.” To mitigate the problem, Microsoft advised users to “restore their Windows 365 Cloud PC to a known good state prior to the release of the update (July 19, 2024)” and provided online instructions for doing so.
The company also noted that users may experience a bug check, referred to as BSOD, leading to a cycle of restarting. “We have received reports of successful recovery from some customers attempting multiple Virtual Machine restart operations on affected Virtual Machines,” Microsoft reported.
CrowdStrike has pulled the problematic update. Its CEO, George Kurtz, assured users that the issue was not a security incident or cyberattack. “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed,” he stated. He also confirmed that only Windows hosts were affected, while Mac and Linux systems remained unaffected.
Earlier in the day, Microsoft announced the restoration of its cloud services after an unrelated outage impacted its Azure services and the Microsoft 365 suite in the central US region.
