A widespread IT outage has linked Microsoft and major cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, leading to a significant drop in their share prices during pre-market trade on Friday. CrowdStrike shares fell by 18.67% and Microsoft shares declined by 2.5% after issues with Microsoft’s Azure cloud services and Microsoft 365 apps were reported.
Global Impact
The outage has disrupted operations for numerous global institutions, including major banks, media outlets, and airlines, causing grounded flights and halted TV broadcasts. The financial impact on the involved companies is substantial.
The London Stock Exchange announced that its RNS news service is currently facing a third-party technical issue, which is hindering news publication. However, this issue does not affect securities trading or other services.
VIDEO | Passengers wait outside the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru after services were affected by ‘server outage’.
(Full video available on PTI Videos – https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/HmC7yUNiu1
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 19, 2024
Cause of the Outage
The outage was attributed to an update issue with CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor product, which is designed to prevent cyber breaches using cloud technology. On July 15, CrowdStrike (NASDAQ: CRWD) introduced Falcon Complete Next-Gen MDR, aiming to stop breaches with exceptional speed and precision across the entire enterprise attack surface. This new product expands MDR operations beyond native endpoint, identity, and cloud security telemetry, incorporating critical third-party data from Falcon Next-Gen SIEM and advanced AI capabilities for enhanced attack context and rapid response.
