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A massive IT outage with Microsoft’s cloud computing services caused widespread disruption in the US and around the world early Friday morning, with major airlines, businesses, media organisations and emergency services all severely affected, according to a report by NBC News.
Around the world, people are seeing the dreaded “blue screen” of death, unable to access the information they need to bank, shop, board a flight, and more. In the US, American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines grounded flights on Friday morning due to communications issues. Passengers at several airports across the country are unable to check flight updates or print boarding passes and other information needed for their flight.
Delta Airlines announced a “global grounding,” according to Rep. Eric Swalwell, a member of the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee, and the Alaska State Troopers reported that 911 and non-emergency numbers in the state were not working due to a “nationwide technology-related outage.”
A representative for cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike said this was not a cyberattack, but rather an issue caused by a problem with a software update that led to a glitch.
“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers affected by the flaw found in the single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not affected,” CEO George Kurtz said in a statement from X.
“This is not a security incident or cyber attack. The issue has been identified and isolated, and a fix has been deployed.”
Internationally, delays occurred at Berlin Brandenburg Airport and Sydney Airport. AENA, which manages 46 Spanish airports, reported delays could occur due to a computer system incident. Paris airports authorities said the outage affected operations at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports, leading to check-in delays and flight cancellations.
British rail operators halted services due to IT outages, and the London Stock Exchange reported a disruption to its regulated news service due to a “global technical issue caused by a third party.”
Microsoft acknowledged the issue with its Azure services and Microsoft 365 apps, including Teams, and said it had been resolved early Friday morning, but many businesses in the US and Europe continued to report problems, with Microsoft acknowledging that “some services are still affected.”
Authorities and businesses around the world are working to restore normal operations following this significant technological disruption.
*This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.*
