Blue Screen of Death: CrowdStrike says global Microsoft outage triggered by faulty update

WASHINGTON - CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity company behind a recent Windows update that caused a global Microsoft outage and the dreaded "blue screen of death", is working on a fix. 

CEO George Kurtz assured users it wasn't a security breach but a faulty update.

"The issue has been identified and a fix is being deployed," Kurtz said on social media. Only Windows hosts were affected, not Mac or Linux.

The term "blue screen of death" (BSOD) originated in the mid-1990s to describe a critical error screen displayed on Microsoft Windows systems. 

This screen indicates a system crash caused by a fatal error that prevents the operating system from functioning properly.

Here are some tips from Microsoft on resolving blue screen errors in Windows:

Blue Screen errors (also sometimes called black screen errors or STOP code errors) can occur if a serious problem causes Windows to shut down or restart unexpectedly. You might see a message that says, "Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer" or a similar message.

These errors can be caused by both hardware and software issues. If you added new hardware to your PC before the Blue Screen error, shut down your PC, remove the hardware, and try restarting. If you're having trouble restarting, you can start your PC in safe mode. For more info, see Start your PC in safe mode in Windows.

You can also try getting the latest updates with Windows Update, help from other sources, or restoring Windows to an earlier point in time.

If none of those steps help to resolve your Blue Screen error, please try the Blue Screen Troubleshooter in the Get Help app:

In Windows, open Get Help.

In the Get Help app, type Troubleshoot BSOD error.

Follow the guided walkthrough in the Get Help app.

Get more online.