Crowdstrike and Microsoft crash: Dire warning millions of Aussies are not safe as disturbing threat emerges from global IT outage that could linger for weeks
The fallout from the massive Microsoft outage could be felt in Australia for two weeks, with criminals posing as airline and IT support staff attempting to rip people off.
Computer systems around the world crashed Friday afternoon after an update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike went wrong, affecting Microsoft users.
Computer screens at airlines, supermarkets, banks, media companies, gas stations and other major businesses and retailers around the world were confronted with the “blue screen of death” virus.
The main flaw was caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which was performing a planned upgrade for Microsoft.
On Sunday, Home Affairs and Cybersecurity Minister Clare O’Neil thanked IT staff and other workers who “got our economy moving again” by working over the weekend.
“However, it will still take some time before all affected sectors are fully operational again,” the minister said in a statement.
“In some cases we can see teething problems for one or two weeks.”
The CrowdStrike upgrades rolled out overnight in the US, meaning the unintended effects were felt in Australia just before happy hour on Friday afternoon.
Airports across Australia continued to feel the brunt of the global IT shortage on Saturday. Pictured is Melbourne’s international terminal
More than eight million devices were affected by the Microsoft outage
Microsoft revealed that 8.5 million devices worldwide were affected. The tech giant recommended rebooting computers up to 15 times as a solution if the device blue screened.
The disruption to flights, shopping and technology in general has created a gap that scammers are trying to exploit.
The Cybersecurity Minister once again warned users to beware of scammers, stressing that messages or contacts from people seeking to resolve these issues should be treated with skepticism.
On Sunday, Home Office and Cybersecurity Minister Clare O’Neil (pictured) thanked IT staff and other workers for “getting our economy moving again” by working over the weekend
“Scammers are attempting to take advantage of the disruptions caused by the CrowdStrike technical incident,” she said.
Be wary of potential scams and phishing attempts.
People should be wary of unexpected phone calls, text messages and emails claiming to offer assistance.
“You can help by ensuring that vulnerable people, including older family members, are extra careful at this time,” the Cybersecurity Minister said.
“There have been reports of people posing as airlines offering to fix flight delays, and criminals posing as tech support offering to fix affected technology,” she said.
Airport delays continue to impact passengers
A visit to the supermarket or gas station may take more time, as both companies’ systems need to get up and running again.
Triple-0 and the emergency services remain unaffected.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, a National Coordination Mechanism was set up by the Department of Home Affairs. The group brings together all sectors and ministers to respond to a specific crisis.
Although supermarket computer systems have been hit, Australians have been told there is no need to stockpile food.
The group has been meeting over the past few days about the power outages and this happened again on Sunday morning.
CrowdStrike told the meeting that they are “now almost rolling out an automatic fix for the issue with their update, just like Microsoft,” Ms. O’Neil said.
“This should increase the speed at which systems across the economy are brought back online.”