CrowdStrike says ‘significant number’ of the 8.5 million downed Windows devices are back online after botched update

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said over the weekend that a “significant number” of the more than 8.5 million Windows devices impacted by a recent outage have been brought back online. 

The company — at the center of one of the largest technology outages in history — provided an update on Sunday where they said many devices are “back online and operational” after they worked with customers to test “a new technique to accelerate impacted system remediation.”

“We’re in the process of operationalizing an opt-in to this technique. We’re making progress by the minute. We understand the profound impact this has had on everyone,” the company said.

Microsoft confirmed on Saturday that its estimates showed about 8.5 million Windows devices were taken offline by a faulty update sent out from CrowdStrike early on Friday morning. Microsoft also released a recovery tool to help IT administrators expedite the repair process.

The 8.5 million devices represent less than one percent of all Windows machines, according to Microsoft, but CrowdStrike products are used by some of the world’s most critical organizations — including airlines, federal agencies, hospitals, banks, emergency services and more. 

Several White House officials on Friday said the incident was a prime example of how consolidation in the tech industry could have potentially catastrophic effects. 

Gartner shared data with Recorded Future News showing that CrowdStrike controls about 15% of the market for endpoint protection tools, second only to Microsoft which covers about 40% of the market.

Blue screens everywhere

Social media on Friday and throughout the weekend was inundated with photos of blue screens at airports, stores and even in Times Square. As of Monday, there are still people trying to get home after their flights were canceled on Friday because computers used to check in passengers and manage flight crews were taken down by the outages. 

More than 800 flights were canceled on Monday, according to CNN, with another 1,500 delayed. Thousands more were canceled on Saturday and Sunday as multiple airlines struggled to get back online. 

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on Monday that days after the outages they are still receiving reports “of continued disruptions and unacceptable customer service conditions at Delta Air Lines.” Dozens of complaints have been filed and Buttigieg reminded Delta and other airlines that fliers must be given refunds and free rebooking services. 

CrowdStrike quickly admitted it was at fault for the damage and dozens of companies have already said they plan to file insurance claims to cover the financial losses caused by the outage. 

Microsoft said it has worked with CrowdStrike, Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services to help businesses recover as quickly as possible. 

The incident was still drawing worldwide news coverage as of Monday, but various cybersecurity experts joked on social media that CrowdStrike was pushed out of the headlines on Sunday thanks to U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, backing his Vice President Kamala Harris for the role.