Global Microsoft IT Outage Mirrors "Leave The World Behind"—Computer Systems Down, Thousands Of Flights Canceled

Elon Musk calls the global outage the "biggest IT fail ever."

A Microsoft software update caused widespread chaos on July 19, impacting businesses from airports and hospitals to banks, retail stores, television networks, and law enforcement agencies.

What Is CrowdStrike? Is This a Cyberattack?

CrowdStrike – an Austin-based cybersecurity company – creates software to help companies detect and prevent hacks. On Friday, CrowdStrike caused a global IT outage due to a faulty software update. CrowdStrike's software requires access to a computer's operating system to scan for threats, per CNBC. Unfortunately, their recent update had a fault that caused machines running Microsoft's Windows operating system to crash – resulting in the biggest information technology outage in history.

Social media users who were affected by the catastrophe shared images of their "blue screen of death," which has prevented them from logging into their computers to work. Numerous airport videos show disgruntled airline customers waiting in long lines in crowded rooms as flights are delayed or canceled.

Engineers at CrowdStrike are currently working on solving the issue. Chief executive George Kurtz said the company is taking responsibility for the mistake and that a fix has been released, but warned that it could take time before everything returns to normal. And despite the fearmongering over the past couple of hours on social media, Kurtz explained, "This is not a security incident or cyberattack."

“We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this,” Kurtz said on NBC’s Today show.

“Leave the World Behind” Trending on X/Twitter

In 2023, Netflix released the apocalyptic film Leave the World Behind, where millions of lives are suddenly disrupted by a cyber attack. While the current IT outage is not due to a cyber attack, the beginning of the movie showed widespread computer system failures and downed devices, pushing the film to become a mainstream topic once again.

The synopsis states, “A family vacation on Long Island is interrupted by two strangers bearing news of a blackout. As the threat grows, both families must decide how best to survive the potential crisis, all while grappling with their own place in this collapsing world.”

Many believe that the movie serves as a warning for future blackouts, and they're not entirely wrong. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the movie's director, Sam Esmail, said that while the writing is mostly fiction, we should prepare for such catastrophes. He even sought the advice of former President Barack Obama to get an accurate description of how such a crisis would unfold. "In the original drafts of the script, I definitely pushed things a lot farther than they were in the film, and President Obama, having the experience he does have, was able to ground me a little bit on how things might unfold in reality," Esmail said.

He continued, "I am writing what I think is fiction, for the most part, I’m trying to keep it as true to life as possible, but I’m exaggerating and dramatizing. And to hear an ex-president say you’re off by a few details…I thought I was off by a lot! The fact that he said that scared the f*ck out of me.”

Esmail even suggested that we should act soon. "And we shouldn’t wait around until the catastrophe happens—the work begins now. I think [Obama] would say the same thing," he said. He's not wrong. Just last year, MGM properties fell victim to a cyberattack. It seems like it's only a matter of time before other companies face a similar threat.

Meanwhile, experts warn that it could take days for big organizations to get back to normal following the outage.

Evie deserves to be heard. Support our cause and help women reclaim their femininity by subscribing today.