By: Nathan Tse

Last Friday, an IT problem caused Windows computers to crash. There was a bug (a word for error in Computer Science) in an update for the software from CrowdStrike, a third party cyber safety software company, which caused disruptions in various sectors including media, transportation, health, and in the general population.

The crash caused delays for most airline’s flights, and train rides from various companies for a couple days. The companies who have flights or train rides rely on computers to keep track of their scheduled flights or train rides. Without their computers, they couldn’t keep track of the flights or train rides. Therefore, flights and train rides had to be delayed.

General GPs around the world were also affected by the IT crash for a couple of days. Doctors need computers to find patients’ data which is stored on the computers. Without computers, most health facilities around the world couldn’t figure out appointments and telehealth consults. Although surgeries were also affected, doctors could still care for the patients and keep them safe, and emergency services weren’t affected by the IT crash, although I don’t know why. The hospitals are good now anyway.

One clear thing that wasn’t affected by the IT crash besides emergency services was schools in Wales and the U.K. There wasn’t any big problem that we know of that was happening at schools, most likely because most schools were already closed for the summer.

The most recent update from news, as of July 19, 2024, is that CrowdStrike has fixed the bug, but it will take some time for computers that don’t automatically update to reflect this solution. Although most desktop or laptop computers are fixed as of 7/19/2024, flights in the UK are still delayed, and the U.K. government had a meeting to discuss the problem.

Although CrowdStrike has fixed the bug, but this may affect how we recognize our computers and software.

Sources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cjr4lv9x54go
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/air-travel-delays-continue-airlines-recovered-global-tech-112160245#:~:text=Some%20airlines%2C%20including%20Southwest%20and,carriers%20saw%20relatively%20few%20cancellations.

Image Credit by Lukas