A recent software update from CrowdStrike (CRWD.O) caused a global computer crash last week, disrupting services across sectors such as aviation, banking, and healthcare. The company revealed on Wednesday that the issue stemmed from a flaw in its quality control mechanism.
The outage, which occurred on Friday, was due to a fault in CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor—an advanced security platform designed to protect systems from malware and hackers. This fault caused computers running Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) Windows operating system to crash and display the infamous “Blue Screen of Death.”
CrowdStrike explained that a bug in the Content Validator allowed one of the two Template Instances to pass validation despite containing problematic content data. The company did not specify the nature of the problematic content but described a Template Instance as a set of instructions guiding the software on threat detection and response. To prevent future issues, CrowdStrike has implemented a new quality control check.
The full extent of the damage from the update is still being evaluated. On Saturday, Microsoft reported that approximately 8.5 million Windows devices were affected. The U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee has requested testimony from CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz.
CrowdStrike provided a fix for the affected systems last week, but experts noted that restoring functionality would take time due to the need for manual code corrections.
Wednesday’s statement aligned with cybersecurity experts’ assessments that a significant error had occurred in CrowdStrike’s quality control process.