There’s a man in Florida right now who wants to propose to his girlfriend while they’re on a beach vacation(CrowdStrike). He couldn’t get the engagement ring before he flew down from New England, but it didn’t seem like that big of an issue — his girlfriend’s daughter Nicole was planning to join them in Florida to celebrate her mom’s birthday, so he asked her to pick up the ring before her flight.
The Perfect Plan CrowdStrike
In a perfect world, Nicole — who didn’t want her last name to be published in case her mom finds out about the surprise proposal — would fly down to Florida on Friday and deliver the ring(Com). Then, her mom and new fiancé would live happily ever after.
The CrowdStrike Outage
But a global CrowdStrike outage has turned this idyllic weekend into a plot point in a strange romantic comedy. Around the world, thousands of people like Nicole have had a wrench thrown into their plans due to this outage, which knocked out countless computers running Microsoft Windows.
Aviation Impact CrowdStrike
In the aviation industry alone, more than 3,500 flights have been canceled, with 31,000 more flights delayed, according to a tracker from FlightAware CrowdStrike.
Added Complexity
“We were a little bit nervous about [transporting the engagement ring] anyway, but then this just added a whole layer of complexity to it,” Nicole told TOPCLAPS.
Delayed Flight CrowdStrike
Now, the Delta flight she planned to take with her husband early Friday morning has been delayed until 3 p.m. ET at least.(CrowdStrike )
Cause of the Outage
“There was a Windows CrowdStrike content update defect that caused the blackout,” announced CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz. Nevertheless, he has negated any suspicions of a cyberattack or security incident since “no actual attack or breach took place.” However, it worries customers how just an erroneous update could create such a havoc. Information from the company’s website indicates that over 50% of Fortune 1000 companies and almost 60% of Fortune 500 use their services.
Travel after effects CrowdStrike
“Ripple effects will be felt by passengers” even though there has been progress in diagnosing what happened, said U.S Secretary of Transport Pete Buttigieg on CNBC.
Statement from Pete Buttigieg
“These flights, they run so tightly, so back-to-back, that even after a root cause is addressed. You can still be feeling those impacts throughout the day,” Buttigieg said.
Waiting Game
For now, all that Nicole — and the thousands of other inconvenienced travelers — can do is wait.
Hope for the Proposal
“Her birthday is tomorrow, and he was probably gonna propose then,” she said. “We have no idea. It’s literally hour by hour at this point.”
