Here's all you need to know about Microsoft Windows's Blue Screen of Death causing a global IT outage

Microsoft Windows users around the world are facing a major issue with Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors, causing significant disruption.?

Many users have turned to social media sites like X ( formerly Twitter) and Reddit to voice their frustrations about their PCs randomly restarting and displaying the blue screen error, making the devices unusable.?

According to a Wall Street Journal report, this outage has even forced low-cost airline Frontier to cancel some flights in the US. Frontier stated, "Our systems are currently impacted by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other companies. We appreciate your patience," as quoted by the WSJ.? ? ?

This issue appears to be widespread, affecting workplaces, airlines, banks, and media companies. The problem has been linked to a special cybersecurity solution from a company called CrowdStrike, which seems to be at the heart of the outage affecting numerous Windows PC users.

The core issue stems from CrowdStrike's Falcon product, which is experiencing a massive outage. This product is used for securing Windows computers. The cybersecurity firm has confirmed the issue and stated that its engineers are working at full speed to resolve it. CrowdStrike has also reassured users that they do not need to report or file a ticket for the problem, as the company is aware and will inform users once the issue is fixed.

Impact in India

The disruption in Microsoft's services has significantly impacted various industries worldwide, including airlines and banks. Indian airlines such as SpiceJet, Akasa Airlines, and Air India Express have experienced flight cancellations and delays due to the Microsoft Cloud outage.

"We're currently facing a technical issue in providing updates on flight disruptions. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue. We regret any inconvenience caused and will update you once the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience and cooperation," stated SpiceJet.

Indigo also updated, "As our systems are impacted by an ongoing issue with Microsoft Azure, we are experiencing high volumes at the contact center. Please contact us only if your travel is within 24 hrs."

Subsequently, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw revealed that the government is in contact with Microsoft to address a global outage affecting various sectors, including flights, supermarkets, banking operations, and the stock market.?The cause of the outage has been identified, and updates have been issued to resolve the issue.?

Vaishnaw shared this information on X (formerly Twitter), mentioning that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) is involved and the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) is issuing a technical advisory. He also clarified that the National Informatics Centre's (NIC) network remains unaffected.

Global impact of Microsoft outage

Globally, the wave of technical malfunctions has disrupted operations at airlines, banks, and the London Stock Exchange, affecting companies from the United States to Asia. Notable companies like McDonald's Corp., United Airlines Holdings Inc., and the LSE Group have reported significant customer service communication issues.

Major U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines, issued ground stops on Friday morning due to communication issues, shortly after Microsoft resolved its cloud services outage.

Microsoft's response to the issue

Microsoft is treating this event with the highest priority and urgency. On their service status website, they stated that they are addressing the lingering impact on the remaining Microsoft 365 apps that are still in a degraded state.

In a post on X, Microsoft 365 Status wrote, "We're investigating an issue impacting users' ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services. We're working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion." They added, "We remain focused on redirecting the impacted traffic to healthy systems."

Meme-fest over Microsoft outage feat. Elon Musk

Netizens have reacted with a flood of hilarious memes after encountering the blue screen that reads, "Your PC ran into a problem..."

Tech tycoon Elon Musk's joined the badwagon of humour and made lighthearted remarks in which he compared the internet behemoth to a fictitious business called "Macrohard," implying that Microsoft performed worse.

?In another post, Musk underscored the reliability of his own platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), by retweeting a user who remarked, "When everything else is down, this app still works."

Here's how netizens reacted:

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