Digital services on Windows hosts have experienced an outage due to a faulty software update.
CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor, a software designed to protect computer systems from cyberattacks, is reported to be the cause.
Services from flights, finances, media, and telecommunication have been affected by the global outage.
In the Philippines, budget carrier Cebu Pacific Airlines issued an advisory stating that it is experiencing technical issues due to the Windows crash.
“The technical issue requires us to handle affected processes manually, potentially causing delays,” it said. “We are working closely with our teams to mitigate disruptions to our operations and will provide regular updates as the situation progresses.”
Air Asia likewise said that Navitaire, the low-cost airline’s e-commerce platform partner, has confirmed the outage has caused “unexpected rebooting of machines, leading to some operational disruptions related to check-in processes, self check-in kiosks, and navigating the AirAsia MOVE app.”
“AirAsia is closely monitoring the situation and is in constant communication with Navitaire and Microsoft,” said Steve F. Dailisan, the company’s communications and public affairs head and first officer, in a travel advisory.
Metrobank, meanwhile, issued a statement that bank customers may experience either a slowdown or a temporary unavailability of bank products and services through online channels.
“Clients may continue to access their funds through the bank’s ATMs or deposit funds through Cash Accept Machines,” it said. “We are closely monitoring the situation and will immediately resume the affected services once the issue has been resolved.”
PNB likewise said its banking channels have been “experiencing intermittence.” Its technical team is on standby to ensure normalcy as soon as the outage has been fixed, it added.
RCBC, on the other hand, reported technical difficulties affecting its RCBC Pulz, RCBC Online Banking, and Diskartech services. It is unclear whether the cause is also due to the Microsoft outage.
As of 7:06 pm, Metrobank and RCBC have issued updates stating that their systems were up and running again.
NOT A CYBERATTACK
In a July 19 email, CrowdStrike sent to BusinessWorld the following statement:
“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”
– Patricia B. Mirasol
