A global disruption: last Friday, airports around the world experienced a massive shutdown believed to be related to an erroneous software update from Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity company. But it turns out that it's not just flights that were at a standstill; in Nevada (as in other parts of the globe), casinos also suffered from the "blue screen breakdown" and millions of players felt the disruption.

A major technology outage has caused significant disruptions across various industries worldwide. On Friday, airplanes were grounded, banking services were interrupted, and TV stations went offline following a widespread failure of Microsoft 365 systems, leading to chaos on a global scale.

The root cause of the issue appears to be linked to a software update error from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, based in Austin, Texas. This malfunction has resulted in the delay of over 1,000 flights and has affected public transportation systems globally as well.

Casinos and sportsbooks affected

The outage has also impacted online sportsbooks and land-based casinos. On Thursday night, guests at Green Valley Ranch Casino in Henderson, Nevada, stated that all slot machines were out of service - every single one of them. As a matter of fact, casino staff had to manually cash out players, resulting in long queues and delays.

Las Vegas Locally, a Vegas-based newspaper, reported on X that "casino computer systems are crashing all over town." Meanwhile, an X user shared images from South Point Casino, also in Nevada, showing TV monitors displaying the infamous "blue screen of death."

Even the mammoth betting company in Australia, TAB, related a complete halt in both its online and land-based services due to the massive system failure. Sportsbet, TAB’s competitor, faced similar issues. "We're facing a total blackout," a TAB unofficial spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald. The insider added that the outage has impacted both their online and retail operations, putting TAB in the same predicament as many other companies across the globe.

No quick solution in sight?

Contrary to reports, the outage is not believed to be the result of foul play in any way. The issue is reportedly linked to the 'Falcon sensor' of CrowdStrike, which is designed to monitor the security of large systems and networks of personal computers. A vast majority of security experts also suggest that fixing the problem is not as straightforward as it seems, as it requires manual intervention on each computer, likely causing ongoing disruptions through the coming days.

Meanwhile, Microsoft 365 stated on X that the organization was "working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion" and further noted the impact remains a positive trend in service availability.

The impact on the financial markets was immediately apparent. For instance, shares on CrowdStrike plummeted by 21% at the beginning of pre-market trade. Microsoft shares also declined, along with stocks related to travel and leisure, as investors projected continued disruptions to flights right at the peak of the summer holiday season in the US as in most parts of the globe.

CrowdStrike says all systems operating normally, as of Friday evening

CrowdStrike was quick to address the widespread outage early Friday, with a software update issued to fix the issue. CEO George Kurtz apologized for the disruption, confirming normal operations had resumed. The update, necessary for affected computers, was installed automatically by many users.

Companies like the New Hampshire Department of Safety, whose 911 system briefly went down, reported being back online last Friday. However, some systems still require manual intervention, which means these organizations and companies may have to reboot every single affected computer. But Kutz stated that many customers are rebooting successfully, and they will continue working with those whose systems aren’t recovering automatically. Full restoration may take some time, but it will happen, he added.