ARTIFICIAL intelligence could be the key to saving the world from another global IT catastrophe, an expert has revealed.
Humans will need to rely more on machines to detect dangerous errors that could result in mass outages, like Friday’s worldwide Windows PC shutdown.
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A rogue software update pushed to PCs has left them unable to power on, stuck on the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death.”
This meant that airlines, banks, supermarkets and even hospitals struggled to operate normally.
The culprit was an update from security giant CrowdStrike to its Falcon antivirus software for businesses.
Speaking to The US Sun, security expert Marc Manzano said that artificial intelligence could help us avoid problems like this in the future.
Read more about global IT disruption
“There has been a growing trend to use AI to help developers write software code,” said Marc, general manager of cybersecurity at SandboxAQ.
“This can really increase developer productivity, but we need more help from AI to improve code quality assurance.
“This major global disruption that has grounded thousands of flights and businesses reminds us that humans are not very good at spotting errors in thousands of lines of code.
“This is where AI can help a lot.
“In particular, we need AI trained to look for the interdependence of new software updates with the existing software stack.”
CrowdStrike’s CEO apologized for the global security gaffe, saying he was “deeply sorry.”
The company has issued a fix that is being circulated around the world.
But many machines that have already been affected by the wrong update will need to be repaired manually.
The error was so serious that experts told The US Sun it could take “weeks” for the world to recover from the error.
What is CrowdStrike?
The global cyber outage affecting television channels, banks, hospitals, airports and emergency services appears to be related to an issue at cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.
IT security firm CrowdStrike published a recorded phone message on Friday – saying it was aware of reports of flaws in Microsoft’s Windows operating system related to its Falcon sensor.
A pre-recorded message read: “Thank you for contacting CrowdStrike support. CrowdStrike is aware of reports of Windows crashes… related to the Falcon sensor.”
The Falcon system monitors the computers it is installed on and detects hacks and bugs before responding to them.
CrowdStrike, based in Austin, Texas, claims to be a global security leader that provides an advanced platform for protecting data.
A CrowdStrike update on Friday is said to have caused a critical bug in Microsoft’s operating systems, affecting millions of people around the world.
The company regularly updates systems with new antivirus software
Toby Murray, associate professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne, Australia, said: “If Falcon is experiencing a malfunction, it could be causing widespread outage for two reasons.
“One: Falcon is widely deployed on many computers, and two: due to the privileged nature of Falcon.
“Falcon is a bit like antivirus software: it is regularly updated with information about the latest online threats.
“It is possible that today’s outage was caused by a buggy update to Falcon.”
Cyber expert Troy Hunt told Australian TV network Seven: “It appears they have released a bad update, which is currently destroying all machines using it.”
We also learned that hackers may attempt to replicate a similar outage in the future.
The good News is that the update was only pushed to commercial machines running CrowdStrike security software.
And it didn’t affect Mac users either, which left Apple fans in luck.
It is worrying, however, that criminals are expected to target potential victims of scams, even if their machines have not been affected.
IT DISRUPTION SCAMMERS – BEWARE!
Beware of scammers, alert Sean KeachHead of Technology and Science at The Sun.
This will cause a flood of dangerous online scams.
Whenever major technological events like this happen, criminals come out of the woodwork to take advantage of innocent Internet users.
You may receive strange calls, texts, or emails warning you of a hack and asking for information.
Therefore, be extremely cautious if you are asked for personal data such as credit card information or phone number to correct this IT flaw.
You may also be told that you need to download some security software urgently.
This is another classic scam that allows criminals to install dangerous malware on your machines.
Don’t fall for it: your computer should be totally fine, so you don’t need to take any action like a normal person.
This wasn’t a cyber attack – it was just a bad computer update for the companies. Don’t listen to scammers.
It’s important to be alert to suspicious emails, texts and calls.
Cybercriminals hope that the confusion surrounding the event will cause people to make panicked decisions – and hand over personal information or money.
A Microsoft spokesperson told The US Sun, “Earlier today, a CrowdStrike update was responsible for taking down multiple IT systems around the world.
“We are actively supporting clients to help with their recovery.”
CROWDSTRIKE RESPONSIBLE – FULL RESPONSE FROM THE CEO
Here is an official statement from CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz…
“Today was not a security or cyber incident.
“Our customers remain fully protected.
“We understand the seriousness of the situation and deeply regret the inconvenience and interruption.
“We are working with all affected customers to ensure their systems are working and can provide the services their customers count on.
“As noted previously, the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed.
“There was an issue with a Falcon content update for Windows hosts. For the latest information that we will continually update, check out the CrowdStrike website, my LinkedIn posts, and my X posts.
“We will continue to provide updates to our community and the industry as they become available.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
