CrowdStrike offers an urgent solution to the “blue screen of death” amid global IT outages

A worldwide IT failure has caused chaos for businesses globally, leading to calls for an emergency COBRA meeting in the UK. Microsoft PCs have caught users in a crash loop with the infamous “Blue Screen of Death” in what is being called one of the biggest IT crises ever, causing widespread disruption.

Sky News was shut down due to the error and transport networks also suffered technological problems, warning of “potential cancellations at short notice”. The major glitch also affected GP appointments, airlines and banks, leaving passengers stranded and financial services inaccessible.

Despite initial fears of a cyber attack, the problems are believed to have been caused by cyber security company CrowdStrike installing an update for Windows devices. Microsoft said in a statement on Friday: “We are aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform. We anticipate that a resolution will follow,” reports Wales Online.

CrowdStrike has since acknowledged the issue following “widespread reports” of bugs on “multi-sensor versions”. The company says the bug has now been rectified, but PCs affected by the Blue Screen of Death may still experience issues.

IT administrators received an urgent update via Reddit, which they should implement “as soon as possible,” according to the Express.

How to get rid of Blue Screen of Death

• Start Windows in safe mode or in the Windows recovery environment
• Navigate to the C:WindowsSystem32driversCrowdStrike directory
• Find the file matching “C-00000291*.sys” and delete it.
• Start the host normally.

Crowdstrike said: “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix implemented. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide full and continuous updates on our website.”

The spokesperson added: “Going forward, we recommend that organizations ensure they communicate with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike’s customers.”