How CrowdStrike caused a global IT meltdown and what comes next

Last week, the world faced what was likely the biggest IT failure in history.

When some people around the world logged onto their laptops on Friday, they were greeted with a blue error screen on their Microsoft Windows operating system.

But this was not a Microsoft issue. It was all to do with a U.S. cybersecurity firm called CrowdStrike which sent out a buggy software update that crashed Windows.

Industries across the board were hit, with airlines cancelling flights, broadcasters not able to go to air and shops not being able to open.

Businesses around the world use CrowdStrike's software to protect their IT systems from hackers. The dependence on such a company exposed the fragility of global businesses' reliance on a small number of IT vendors.

CrowdStrike rolled back the update but it took some time for companies to get back online.

For me, Friday was a professional day unlike any other.

In the latest episode of CNBC Tech's "Beyond the Valley" podcast — which you can listen to above — Tom Chitty and I talk about what was behind the IT failure, how CNBC covered the event and whether something like this could happen again.

If you have any thoughts on this or previous episodes, please email us at [email protected].

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Here is a transcript of the "Beyond the Valley" episode released on July 22, 2024. It has been edited for clarity and brevity. 

Tom Chitty 

Last week's IT failure may go down as the worst in history. Computers around the world began to grind to a halt on Thursday night, after a faulty software update with a single defect saw severe disruption to air travel, hospitals, banks,