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1440 Daily Digest

Global Tech Outage


A faulty software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike—used by over half of Fortune 500 companies—caused a worldwide outage yesterday, disrupting airlines, government services, hospital systems, and other businesses. A defect in the update crashed Microsoft's Windows, triggering its infamous "blue screen of death" for users relying on the operating system. 


Thousands of flights were canceled or delayed yesterday, including those with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. The outage (see graphics) disrupted emergency services and court systems in some areas, while some healthcare providers postponed nonessential surgeries. The United Parcel Service and FedEx also reported issues. Some billboards in New York City's Times Square went dark, Disneyland guests were locked out of hotels, and Krispy Kreme gave away free doughnuts to cope with the outage. See scenes from the day here.


CrowdStrike's CEO George Kurtz said a security breach or cyberattack did not cause the incident and that a fix was deployed. Shares of the $74B Austin, Texas-based company closed down 11% Friday. 

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