Companies Hit By Windows Outage Warned Against Scammers

Companies that were affected by the recent massive Microsoft outage already had to deal with a long list of issues. But now, something else awaits for them as a grave warning has been issued for them to be wary of scammers and hackers looking to take advantage of this situation.

The global outage started when an error present in an update for Windows hosts was rolled out by Texas-based cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. This was followed by chaos impacting important services across the globe, with sectors such as travel, banking, retail, and healthcare facing a huge disruption.

In a blog post on Friday, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz warned that “adversaries and bad actors will try to exploit events like this.” He added, “I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and ensure that you’re engaging with official CrowdStrike representatives. Our blog and technical support will continue to be the official channels for the latest updates.”

Also Read: Steve Jobs’ Jibe On Microsoft Goes Viral After Global Outage

How Will Hackers Take Advantage Of The Situation?

A day after the outage, CrowdStrike stated that hackers and scammers were trying to use the event to distribute a malicious ZIP archive called crowdstrike-hotfix.zip. The ZIP archive comes with a HijackLoaded payload that loads Remcos to grant a hacker control of an infected computer. This will only happen if the users execute the payload.

In a follow-up post, the company yet again warned that customers should “verify they are communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.” America’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) commented saying that “cyber threat actors continue to leverage the outage to conduct malicious activity, including phishing attempts.” The agency is working closely with CrowdStrike and other private sector and government partners to monitor potential malicious activities.

It’s also likely that due to the IT outage being so big and gaining so much coverage, even computer users who have nothing to do with CrowdStrike could be tricked into believing they need to install an “essential update” to make sure their PC doesn’t come across any such issues in the future.

Also Read: Windows Suffer Global Outage; Users Get Blue Screen Of Death

Users Got a Blue Screen Of Death Due To Outage

Blue Screen errors, also called black screen errors or STOP code errors, show up when a critical issue forces Microsoft Windows to unexpectedly shut down or restart. Users could also encounter a message saying: "Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer" or a similar notification.

These errors can be a result of hardware or software issues. If you’ve recently installed new hardware and encountered a Blue Screen error, try shutting down the PC, removing any new hardware, and attempting to restart. If restarting doesn’t work, users can initiate the PC in safe mode.

Moreover, consider updating Windows with the latest patches through Windows Update, looking for assistance from other sources, or restoring Windows to a previous restore point.