Details about the culprit of the worldwide computer crash have been revealed: what CrowdStrike is known for

“The software update was distributed worldwide without proper testing.”

The glitch appears to be related to an issue at cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, industry experts said. Microsoft Windows is among its clients.

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One of the company's main products is CrowdStrike Falcon, described on its website as a platform that «provides real-time attack indicators, ultra-precise detection and automated protection» against possible cybersecurity threats, CNN reports.

According to Founded in 2011, CrowdStrike sells Falcon to large corporations and government clients, including the world's largest banks, healthcare and energy companies.

The company has not yet responded to an ongoing outage that may be related to its software .

“CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company. It uses various enterprise programs to detect malware on endpoints. It's essentially something like an antivirus, but it's typically used for corporate systems rather than users' home computers,” Jeffrey L. Foster, an assistant professor at Macquarie University in Australia, told CNN.

According to the professor Salila Kanhere from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, the global IT outage appears to have been caused by an issue with CrowdStrike antivirus software.

“This appears to have affected Windows computers running this software, causing them to crash (blue screen error) and get stuck in boot loops,” Kanhere comments. “Their software update appears to have been distributed worldwide without proper testing.”

Technical glitches around the world have led to flight groundings, companies are facing IT problems and customers are unable to access technical services. Here are some of the companies affected by the disruptions, CNN lists.

At the moment, all flights of United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have been cancelled. The Federal Aviation Administration cited communications problems and did not say how long the ground stop would last.

Allegiant Airlines flights have also been suspended. Earlier Thursday, Allegiant said its website was unavailable due to an issue with Microsoft Azure, the tech giant's cloud software.

Microsoft said Friday it was investigating an issue affecting users' ability to access various apps and Microsoft 365 services. Earlier Thursday, the company said on its Azure Status Report site that the service was unavailable for some customers in the United States, adding that it had identified the cause and was working to resolve it.

Other global airlines, including Virgin Australia and Qantas, have been hit by IT disruptions, saying they remain operational but with delays.

Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney airports are experiencing similar disruptions, although flights across -still arriving and departing.

Australian banking and telecoms institutions such as ANZ, Westpac, Visa and Optus were also affected, according to website Downdetector, which tracks cyber attacks.

Chinese Microsoft customers are seeing a “blue screen” error message, commonly known as a BSOD (blue screen of death), Microsoft confirmed on Friday.

The London Stock Exchange said its news service was experiencing a “third global technical issue.” side” due to which the news is not published on its website. Other company services, including the exchange itself, continue to operate as normal, the company added.

Other businesses affected include Australian supermarket chains, state police, a national broadcaster and New Zealand banks.