Disrupted global tech systems on the road to recovery

Widespread impact exposes vulnerabilities of world's interconnected technologies

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Services from airlines to healthcare, shipping and finance were coming back online on July 19 after a mistake in a security software update sparked hours-long global computer system outages, another incident highlighting the vulnerability of the world’s interconnected technologies.

After the outage was resolved, companies were dealing with backlogs of delayed and cancelled flights and medical appointments, missed orders and other issues that could take days to resolve. Businesses also face questions about how to avoid future blackouts triggered by technology meant to safeguard their systems.

A software update by global cyber-security firm CrowdStrike, one of the largest operators in the industry, triggered system problems that grounded flights, forced broadcasters off the air and left customers without access to services such as healthcare or banking. Global carrier FedEx faced major disruptions, and some moderators who police content on Meta’s Facebook were hit.

CrowdStrike is not a household name, but it is an US$83 billion (S$112 billion) company with more than 20,000 subscribers around the world, including and Microsoft. CrowdStrike chief executive George Kurtz said on social media platform X that a defect was found “in a single content update for Windows hosts” that affected Microsoft customers.

“We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travellers, to anyone affected by this, including our company,” Mr Kurtz told NBC News.

CrowdStrike has one of the largest shares of the highly competitive cyber-security market, leading some industry analysts to question whether control over such operationally critical software should remain with just a handful of companies.