nGCERT: Global IT outages linked to CrowdStrike affecting 8.5M users

Nigeria’s National Cyber Emergency Response Team (ngCERT) says the global IT outages, caused by a recent software update from CrowdStrike is now affecting over 8.5 million users.

This software update from the CrowdStrike Falcon agent led to widespread system crashes, known as the “blue screen of death” (BSOD), impacting primarily Windows clients and servers, with no recorded issues for Mac and Linux users, according to ngCERT which is calling for caution against cybercriminals exploiting the incident.

Scope and Impact

ngCERT says the outage has disrupted numerous businesses and individual routines across various sectors including airlines, banking, trading, and media companies. On-premises systems and cloud platforms such as Microsoft 365, Windows, Azure, and Amazon Web Services, particularly those running Falcon sensor versions 7.15 and 7.16, were affected.

The issue originated from a faulty CrowdStrike Falcon Agent update, causing unresponsiveness and startup failures on Windows machines. This problem was not the result of a security breach or cyberattack but from a defect in the Falcon content update, the ngCERT says.

Exploitation by Malicious Actors

Despite the non-malicious origin, threat actors have exploited this vulnerability to launch attacks against CrowdStrike customers. Using mass-scale phishing domains, these actors are targeting end-users to inflict damage and intrude on systems. Identified malicious domains include:

According to ngCERT, “This incident underscores the need for constant vigilance, prompt action, and robust cybersecurity measures in our increasingly interconnected digital world. Threat actors are leveraging the flaw with mass-scale phishing domains to target unsuspecting end users, inflict damage and intrude on systems”.