Costa Rica Remained Resilient Amid the Microsoft and CrowdStrike Incident: Here's Why, According to Michael O'Neill, Senior Director at Feuji

San José, Costa Rica - July 19, 2024

On Thursday night, CrowdStrike, a Microsoft security partner, released an update to its software designed to detect intrusions and signs of hacking.

The patch had an error in the code that erroneously indicated to Microsoft's servers an incorrect location where computers should store their data, which caused computers and systems "patched" by that software to suddenly stop working because they did not know where to store the data from their server.

"The problem only affected companies that use CrowdStrike security software on Microsoft Windows and Azure systems. San José International Airport and Guanacaste Airport did not report problems with the arrivals and departures of flights, which means that they probably do not use the CrowdStrike security software. In addition, the Apple and Linux systems were not affected at all by the interruption," said Michael O'Neill, Senior Director of Feuji.

This would explain why the failure of Microsoft and CrowdStrike did not massively affect Costa Rica, the expert added.

The incident that affected countless companies and airlines around the world is a reminder of how vulnerable a country or an organization can be to the use of a single technology.

"Microsoft's dominance in Costa Rica is a double-edged sword. It provides comfort but also vulnerability. We must always balance the nation's dependence on its software with alternatives. The interruption is a clear reminder that technology can fail us at any time and, therefore, Costa Rica must diversify its technological portfolio to avoid putting all the eggs in the same basket," added O'Neill.

Fortunately, CrowdStrike identified and removed the problematic patch.

"Systems around the world are quickly getting back online and working normally. For most of the affected customers, the solution is simply to restart their computer and the new fixed code will be automatically reinstalled for the system to work properly," the expert concluded.

The following Microsoft software stopped working when the patch was released:

• Microsoft Defender

• Microsoft Defender for terminals

• Microsoft Defender Experts

• Microsoft Intune

• Microsoft OneNote

• OneDrive for Business

• Online SharePoint

• Windows 365

• Viva Participate

• Microsoft Competition

• Microsoft fabric

• Power BI

• Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft 365 Administration Center

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