Global IT outage sees millions of Windows PCs hit with a blue screen of death

A catastrophic IT failure has thrown millions of Windows computers around the world into chaos, displaying the infamous blue screen of death for many users. The collapse was triggered by an update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, causing not only headaches for individual users, but widespread disruption to major organizations.

Those affected include airlines, TV networks and financial institutions. Chaos broke out in the early hours of Friday morning (July 19), leading to flight delays, train cancellations and even Sky News being thrown off the air, the Mirror reports.

Ryanair has admitted that it is affected by these “third-party” IT issues affecting its operations. The ripple effect has hit supermarkets, banks and various businesses, with numerous IT professionals on the Reddit forums reporting that they are working tirelessly to mitigate the consequences.

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In a statement about X, formerly known as Twitter, Microsoft assured customers that it was working on the issue. It said: “Our services continue to see continuous improvement as we continue to take mitigation measures. We still expect users to continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue.”

Microsoft said efforts are underway to redirect traffic to alternative systems to speed up resolution of the issues. CrowdStrike is a US-based cybersecurity company that aims to defend global enterprises against cyber threats such as data breaches, hacking and ransomware. The issue is seen as a major problem for the firm.

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