Severe IT outages were reported around the world on Friday as vital systems such as airports, banks, health services and broadcasters were affected.
All Delta, United and American Airlines flights were canceled this morning due to a communications problem, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. American Airlines, which said it was able to “safely” resume operations as of 5 a.m. ET, cited a “technical issue” with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that “affected multiple airlines,” according to ABC News.
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Delta said it has “resumed some departures” but expects more delays and cancellations on Friday. United also said it will resume “some” of its flights but many customers traveling on Friday “should expect delays.”
CrowdStrike, which is used by companies around the world to protect Microsoft Windows computers and servers, posted a support notice early Friday acknowledging a so-called “blue screen of death” (BSOD) issue when booting Windows machines, according to The Verge. “We have numerous reports of BSODs on Windows hosts occurring across multiple sensor versions,” the notice said.
Problems have not only been reported in the US. In Australia, Melbourne Airport said there was “a global technical issue” affecting the check-in procedures of some of its airlines. Travel chaos was also reported in Europe, with airports in Berlin and the UK caught up in the chaos. London Gatwick Airport said it was affected by “the global Microsoft issues”. Asian airlines were also affected.
But the problems extend beyond the travel sector. Sky News was unable to broadcast live TV shows in the UK and Australia, and Capitec – South Africa’s biggest bank by number of customers – said it too was experiencing “nationwide service issues”. Banks in New Zealand and Australia were also affected, and the London Stock Exchange said it was investigating “a global third-party technical issue” affecting its news service, although it said the exchange itself was continuing to operate normally.
Mass General Brigham, the largest hospital group in Massachusetts, canceled all non-urgent surgeries and hospital visits because its clinical systems, including those for patient records and scheduling, could no longer be accessed.
At least two hospitals in Germany also cancelled non-urgent operations, according to the BBC. Local health centers in the UK reported problems with a system for booking appointments and storing patient records. The Israeli Health Ministry said its own hospitals were also affected by a “malfunction” in the software.
Alaska’s 911 and other emergency call centers “are not functioning properly across the state of Alaska,” according to a post on the Alaska State Troopers Facebook page, citing a “statewide technology outage” as the reason for the problem.
“Today, a CrowdStrike update caused multiple IT systems to fail around the world,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “We are actively assisting our customers with recovery efforts.”
CrowdStrike told The Daily Beast in a separate statement that it is “actively working with customers affected by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.” “Mac and Linux hosts are not affected,” the statement continued. “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed.”
“Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers,” the statement continued.
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