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Time Is Money

Jul 20, 2024 • 5 min read

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Global IT Outage
CENTCOM Activity

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Global IT Outage:

Yesterday, a routine software update from CrowdStrike, a leading cybersecurity firm, triggered a massive global technology outage, affecting numerous industries worldwide. The update, released at 04:09 UTC, contained a logic error that caused system crashes and blue screens (BSOD) on Windows systems using the Falcon sensor. This issue was not due to a cyberattack but was a result of a bug in the update. Multiple major U.S. airlines, including American, Delta, and United, grounded their flights, causing significant delays and disruptions.
Other industries, such as banks, stock exchanges, emergency services, hospitals, and public transit systems, also experienced severe impacts, causing widespread chaos. CrowdStrike quickly identified and remedied the issue by 05:27 UTC, though the fix took time to propagate fully. They confirmed that the problem stemmed from a faulty update to Channel File 291, which controls named pipe execution on Windows systems. Systems running Linux or macOS were unaffected. Despite the quick remediation, the outage had far-reaching effects, disrupting operations at airports worldwide, delaying flights, and impacting various other sectors.
CrowdStrike has committed to a thorough root cause analysis to prevent future occurrences and is providing continuous updates through their support portal. The outage extended beyond the aviation industry, hitting sectors such as banking, stock exchanges, emergency services, hospitals, and public transit systems. News organizations, including those in Australia and the UK, experienced broadcasting issues, and the Paris Olympics IT operations were also impacted.
Microsoft's Azure cloud service reported issues with virtual machines running Windows and the CrowdStrike Falcon agent, exacerbating the problem. As systems began to come back online, CrowdStrike's CEO, George Kurtz, apologized for the disruption and assured customers that efforts were underway to restore full functionality. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) monitored the situation closely, providing updates to air traffic controllers and airlines as they worked to resume normal operations.

CENTCOM Activity:

From July 14-17, 2024, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), visited Israel to engage in high-level meetings with Israeli defense and national security officials. He met with Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, and key members of the Israeli Defense Forces. The discussions centered on shared intelligence assessments and the security challenges Israel faces in its southern and northern regions, as well as broader regional security concerns.
A significant focus was on enhancing defense and technological cooperation to strengthen Israel's security and improve deterrence against regional threats. Gen. Kurilla underscored the strategic advantages of the close U.S.-Israel military partnership. On July 18, 2024, CENTCOM forces reported the successful destruction of two surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and four uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen over the past 24 hours. These weapons were deemed imminent threats to U.S. and coalition forces, as well as merchant vessels in the region.
CENTCOM is currently one of the most active combatant commands within the U.S. Department of Defense, primarily due to its extensive operations across the Middle East and Central Asia. The command plays a crucial role in directing and enabling military operations to enhance regional security and stability, conducting numerous activities including bilateral and multilateral exercises, security cooperation, and humanitarian assistance. These efforts address threats from terrorist organizations like ISIS and Al Qaeda, as well as counter influences from adversaries such as Iran.

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