Global CrowdStrike IT outage impacting airports and more

[RooFlyer]

It was Windows that crashed (and couldn't reboot) caused by the Crowdstrike application causing a kernel panic.

Operative words there caused by surely? I mean, CrowdStrike have all but admitted fault, if not liability, haven't they?

Would you have legal recourse if you're trying to book a concert ticket that's in demand and the concert sells out in 5 minutes. Windows crashes. Your ISP goes down. I don't think you'd have a legal case. Same if you're trying to sell some shares. What if the power goes out. Same deal.

As I said, you know IT better than me, but in this case, from what I understand, CrowdStrike pushed out an update that was faulty and caused the Windows thing and massive disruption to businesses, which no doubt cost 'em heaps. My analogy would be that Toyota dealer gives your car a '000km service and gave it back to you with faulty brakes due to a mechanic making a mistake. You have an accident because of the faulty brakes. Sue the service provider for the cost to you.

 

[RooFlyer]

Anyway, amongst all the gloom, some good news!

Southwest Airlines Saved From Global IT Outage Thanks To 32-Year-Old Microsoft System​

(Simpleflying.com - can’t post a link sorry)

This is due to the airline working from Windows 3.1, a version that was first released in April 1992 as the successor to Windows 3.0

 

[SYD]

Anyway, amongst all the gloom, some good news!

Southwest Airlines Saved From Global IT Outage Thanks To 32-Year-Old Microsoft System​

(Simpleflying.com - can’t post a link sorry)

If it works, don’t <fluff> with it….

 

[Denali]

Anyway, amongst all the gloom, some good news!

Southwest Airlines Saved From Global IT Outage Thanks To 32-Year-Old Microsoft System​

(Simpleflying.com - can’t post a link sorry)

My husband, a sci fi fan, reminded me that in Battlestar Galactica (the new version), they survived because they had old tech on board

 

[VPS]

From the UK telegraph

 

[RooFlyer]

I guess that explains why SouthWest are the world’s biggest operator of B737s - developed in the 1960s.

 

[moa999]

Anyway, amongst all the gloom, some good news!

It's a nice story.
But a fake meme tweet.

Southwest these days is mostly a mix of 737 700s, 800s and Max 8s, none of which were around in the 60s.

https://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Southwest%20Airlines.htm

 

[RooFlyer]

It's a nice story.
But a fake meme tweet.

Well, I was thinking Beetoota Advocate but it is reported the same on a number of seemingly serious websites.

Why isn’t Southwest affected by the CrowdStrike/Microsoft outage?

Answer: Because it’s using an outdated version of Windows.

www.govtech.com

 

[SYD]

It's a nice story.
But a fake meme tweet.

Southwest these days is mostly a mix of 737 700s, 800s and Max 8s, none of which were around in the 60s.

https://www.airfleets.net/flottecie/Southwest%20Airlines.htm

I do remember passing through LAX in the early naughties and seeing an awful lot of B737-200s with coal fired Pratt&Whitney engines. Despite Southwest starting in the 1960s, I believe they launched with B737-300 (and a lot of them).

 

[Daver6]

I dunno … that seems a bit like blaming the car when the tyres explode at speed so the car runs into a telegraph pole … ?

Wasn't apportioning blame but just stating what happened.

Operative words there caused by surely? I mean, CrowdStrike have all but admitted fault, if not liability, haven't they?



As I said, you know IT better than me, but in this case, from what I understand, CrowdStrike pushed out an update that was faulty and caused the Windows thing and massive disruption to businesses, which no doubt cost 'em heaps. My analogy would be that Toyota dealer gives your car a '000km service and gave it back to you with faulty brakes due to a mechanic making a mistake. You have an accident because of the faulty brakes. Sue the service provider for the cost to you.

Maybe a better analogy is a defective aircraft tyre that fails and debris hits the wing and punctures the fuel tank causing a catastrophic failure of the aircraft.

I do think Crowdstrike is probably at fault. For EDR software to be effective it needs to run at elevated privileges. So what would ordinarily be an application crash, has taken down the entire OS. As to why there have been issues that Windows couldn't reboot, I've not read into that sufficiently to form an opinion.

 

[oz_mark]

I do think Crowdstrike is probably at fault. For EDR software to be effective it needs to run at elevated privileges. So what would ordinarily be an application crash, has taken down the entire OS. As to why there have been issues that Windows couldn't reboot, I've not read into that sufficiently to form an opinion.

Because it was loading during start-up. Hence one of the solutions was to boot in safe mode.

 

[Quickstatus]

boot in safe mode.

But because the problem resided in the Kernel, the computer boot up using Safe mode also needed basically admin level privileges which most clients (user laptops) do not . So no amount of safe mode booting would work.

 

[oz_mark]

But because the problem resided in the Kernel, the computer boot up using Safe mode also needed basically admin level privileges which most clients (user laptops) do not . So no amount of safe mode booting would work.

It was even more interesting if you needed to do it on a cloud hosted VM.....

 

[Quickstatus]

cloud hosted VM.....

Luckily Our VMWare VM came back online midnight last night.

 

[Forg]

I do remember passing through LAX in the early naughties and seeing an awful lot of B737-200s with coal fired Pratt&Whitney engines. Despite Southwest starting in the 1960s, I believe they launched with B737-300 (and a lot of them).

Because nerd/anorak, and prolly since I’ve not been anywhere outside the country since 2018, I’ve been watching some of the live streams of Heathrow while my wife gets ready for bed.

More than once, one of the big US airlines has landed a 767 which has just crossed the Atlantic … I’m 53, that’s almost like me being taken to the airport at age 10 to meet Dad getting home from Hong Kong, going up to the observation deck ‘cos his flight’s delayed, and seeing a United DC6 arriving from Honolulu …

 

[justinbrett]

Apparently the outage has hit Woolies grammar as well.



(It’s fewer)

 

[AIRwin]

Apparently the outage has hit Woolies grammar as well.

And punctuation?

 

[I love to travel]

If you happen to be in the US right now, it is a mess in some areas, especially East Coast. Atlanta delays over 4 hours. Check with your airline before coming to the airport.

THe very small upside, plane spotting at DFW is terrific with lots of flights backed up. As much as I am done with Qantas, still had a smile on my face when I saw the plane at the gate and hearing a few Aussie accents in the AA Flagship lounge.

 

[Pushka]

If it works, don’t <fluff> with it….

I have posted this many times on this forum. That IT people take a great product, then over a period they enhance it into oblivion. And during the process ignore what the customer wants from the product but inserts things that customers have no demand for.

 

[Forg]

I have posted this many times on this forum. That IT people take a great product, then over a period they enhance it into oblivion. And during the process ignore what the customer wants from the product but inserts things that customers have no demand for.

That’s because in the software game you can’t just sell the exact same product year after year; customers may claim to have a set of requirements & be happy to stick with something that meets the requirements, but in reality, they always get bored & go with the next shiny bauble which comes along.