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Hilton Potentially Experiencing Major System Outage, Check-Ins Affected

In a day already marred by technical mishaps, with Microsoft’s Azure cloud causing a nationwide ground stop for Frontier Airlines, it appears the tech gremlins weren’t done just yet. This time, the hospitality giant Hilton found itself in the crosshairs of technological turmoil, potentially affecting guests chainwide and complicating the check-in process – a scenario that’s enough to fray the nerves of even the most seasoned traveler.

Reports began surfacing on Reddit, where a user by the name FuzzelFox shared an intriguing and somewhat alarming experience. According to the post, multiple Hilton property computers simultaneously suffered the dreaded “blue screen of death,” a term that sends shivers down the spine of anyone who relies on technology for their day-to-day operations. The issue wasn’t isolated, as it seemed to ripple across the street to another property, hinting at a larger, possibly systemic problem. The immediate suspicion? A rogue update dispatched across Hilton’s IT infrastructure with less-than-desirable results.

Amidst the chaos of rebooting PCs and guests waiting to check in, another piece of the puzzle emerged. Crowdstrike, known for its endpoint security solutions and widely adopted in various enterprise environments, rolled out a bad update today that is allegedly causing blue screens across many different companies – not just Hilton.

Hilton has yet to release any official statement on the matter, but my educated guess here is that Hilton is likely a customer of Crowdstrike (edit: a commenter on the original Reddit post indicated this is indeed the case), and likely has the Crowdstrike endpoint security agent deployed to their front desk computers. As that software “checks in” with Crowdstrike’s cloud and pulls down updates, bad things are going to happen.

Imagine, if you will, the added frustration for travelers who, after facing delays and cancellations courtesy of the earlier Frontier Airlines debacle, find themselves unable to check into their hotel rooms. If anyone is checking into a Hilton property tonight, we’d love to hear from you.

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