Global IT Outage: CrowdStrike and Microsoft Stocks Plunge, Scammers Exploit Crisis

However, each corporation's daily stock value dropped on 19 July, when a software update "triggered a logic error", as Crowdstrike said in a statement. George Kurtz, CEO & Founder of CrowdStrike confirmed the outage was caused by a bug in the update and not a cyber-attack. Marc Porcar, CEO of QR Code Generator PRO S.L, said, "Following the blackout searches for 'CrowdStrike stock' and 'Microsoft stock' are up, as people show interest in the impact of the outage on these two companies."

Porcar noted that CrowdStrike’s daily stock value dropped from US$343.05 to US$294.53, down by around 14.1% on 19 July, while Microsoft stock has also seen a dip in daily stock value on the same date, dropping from US$440.37 to US$432.94.

"Media coverage and social media are a big influence on the interest in stocks. Often when a company is trending, investors identify potential opportunities based on current buzz and sentiment," commented Porcar.

As major companies in various industries are facing difficulties in their operations, scammers are preying on customers who are seeking advice, warns Porcar.

"Unfortunately, scammers are taking advantage of the outage and those affected. Fraudsters are impersonating Microsoft customer services by sending email, text messages or calling, offering help following the outage in exchange for personal information," he noted.

Porcar explains, "To spot anything fraudulent, you must be aware that Microsoft, CrowdStrike, or any other huge corporation do not reach out to you in this way. A message will most likely be sent to you through your personal account via the official website. Therefore, if you do receive anything from these companies, go straight to the legitimate website and check if you have an alert there. If you do not, this is often an indication of a scam."