ARTIFICIAL intelligence could be the key to saving the world from another global cyber disaster, an expert has revealed.
Humans will have to rely more on machines to spot dangerous errors that can lead to mass outages like Friday’s global shutdown of Windows PCs.
A malicious software update sent to PCs left them unable to turn on, stuck on the dreaded “blue screen of death.”
This means airlines, banks, supermarkets and even hospitals have struggled to operate normally.
The culprit was an update to security giant CrowdStrike’s Falcon antivirus software for businesses.
Speaking to the US Sun, security expert Marc Manzano said artificial intelligence could help us avoid problems like this in the future.
Learn more about the global computer outage
“There is a growing trend of using AI to help developers write software code,” said Marc, general manager of cybersecurity at SandboxAQ.
“It can indeed increase developer productivity, but we need more help from AI to improve code quality assurance.
“This major global outage that has paralyzed thousands of flights and businesses reminds us that humans are not very good at detecting errors in thousands of lines of code.
“This is where AI can be a big help.
“In particular, we need AI trained to look for the interdependencies of new software updates with the existing software stack.”
CrowdStrike’s CEO apologized for the global security blunder, saying he was “deeply sorry.”
The company has released a patch that is now rolling out worldwide.
But many machines already affected by the faulty update will have to be repaired manually.
The mistake was so serious that experts told the US Sun newspaper it could take “weeks” for the world to recover.
What is CrowdStrike?
The global computer outage affecting television stations, banks, hospitals, airports and emergency services appears to be linked to a problem at cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Computer security firm CrowdStrike released a recorded phone message Friday saying it was aware of reports of crashes on Microsoft’s Windows operating system linked to its Falcon sensor.
A pre-recorded message read: “Thank you for contacting CrowdStrike Support. CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows… related to the Falcon sensor.”
The Falcon system monitors the computers on which it is installed and detects hacks and bugs before responding to them.
CrowdStrike, headquartered in Austin, Texas, claims to be a global security leader that provides an advanced platform to protect data.
A CrowdStrike update released Friday reportedly caused a critical error in Microsoft operating systems, affecting millions of people worldwide.
The company regularly updates its 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 suffers a malfunction, it could cause a widespread outage for two reasons.
“First: Falcon is widely deployed on many computers, and second: because of the privileged nature of Falcon.
“Falcon is a bit like antivirus software: it is regularly updated with information about the latest online threats.
“Today’s outage may have been caused by a buggy Falcon update.”
Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt told Australian broadcaster Seven: “It looks like they’ve pushed out a bad update, which is currently destroying every machine that gets it.”
We have also learned that hackers may attempt to replicate a similar outage in the future.
Good news is that the update was only sent to business machines running CrowdStrike security software.
And it didn’t affect Mac users either, making Apple fans feel lucky.
The worrying thing is that the scammers are expected to target potential victims of scams, even if their machines were not affected.
COMPUTER FAILURE SCAMMERS – BEWARE!
Beware of scammers, warns Sean Keach, head of technology and science at The Sun.
This will cause a wave of dangerous online scams.
Whenever major technology events like this occur, 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.
So be extremely careful if you are asked for personal data, such as your credit card information or phone number, to resolve this computer outage.
You may also be told that you urgently need to download security software.
This is another classic scam that allows scammers to install dangerous malware on your machines.
Don’t be fooled: your computer should be in perfect condition, so you don’t need to take any action as an ordinary person.
This is not a cyber attack, but simply a bad IT update for businesses. Don’t listen to scammers.
It is important to be alert to suspicious emails, text messages and calls.
Cybercriminals are hoping 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 Sun: “Earlier today, a CrowdStrike update caused a number of computer systems to go down around the world.
“We actively support our customers to help them recover.”
CROWDSTRIKE INDICTED – CEO’S FULL RESPONSE
Here is an official statement from CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz…
“Today was not a security or cybersecurity incident.
“Our customers remain fully protected.
“We understand the seriousness of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption.
“We are working with all affected customers to ensure that systems are back up and running and can deliver the services their customers rely on.
“As previously stated, 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, which we will be updating continuously, please check the CrowdStrike website, my LinkedIn posts, and my X posts.
“We will continue to provide updates to our community and industry as they become available.”