A major IT outage disrupted the world on Friday morning, shutting down airports, banks, airlines and many other organisations, including Microsoft.
At least 540 flights were canceled across the US on Friday morning after American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines asked the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground all flights. according to Outages also occurred at Berlin Airport in Germany, the London Stock Exchange, Gatwick Airport in the UK, Google Cloud, Microsoft and various hospitals, and computers at the Department of Justice (DOJ) were reportedly affected, according to ABC News.
According to US cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, the outage appears to have been caused by a software issue, not a cyberattack. “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers affected by a flaw found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not affected. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix is being deployed,” said CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz. Said On social media.
CrowdStrike is actively working with customers affected by the flaw found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not affected. This is not a security incident or cyber attack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix is being deployed. …
— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024
As of 5:50 a.m. ET, the FAA Tweet It told followers: “We are closely monitoring a technical issue affecting US airline IT systems. Several airlines have requested the FAA's assistance with grounding until the issue is resolved.” (Related: Boeing whistleblower dies after sudden illness: reports)
Flights already in the air were allowed to continue flying after the suspension, but as of writing no other flights operated by American Airlines, United Airlines or Delta had taken off. video Photos also included online What it shows Appearance To be Countless people Stuck At airports around the world world The weekend is approaching.
🔥🚨BREAKING: This Microsoft outage is now being reported as the biggest IT outage in history.
The Philadelphia airport was packed with travelers whose flights were delayed. There is still no evidence that this was the result of a hack. pic.twitter.com/AKeeFtaUep
— Dom Lucre | Story Breaker (@dom_lucre) July 19, 2024
Had a nightmare flight today, this is one line (not all) from the help desk. @American Airlines Chicago O'Hare Airport
If you repeat this across the entire airport, the scale just gets bigger.
I was told I could pay up to $1200 to give up my seat. Hopefully we can still take off. pic.twitter.com/CFFkx9PTV4
— E (@ElijahSchaffer) July 19, 2024
All flight displays at Sydney Airport went into BSOD. #Microsoft #CrowdStrike pic.twitter.com/ZL9QwGdi1a
— techAU (@techAU) July 19, 2024
🚨 BREAKING: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California affected by global IT outage… This is just one example of what's happening around the world right now.
Just one company's fault? Give me a break! 😂🎬🍿👌
This could be the start of a major cyber attack… pic.twitter.com/rbpJ5zPMke
— Vegas Star (@vegastarr) July 19, 2024
WATCH: A busy afternoon at Changi Airport on July 19, 2024, as passengers and staff deal with check-in delays caused by a global IT outage. (Video: CNA/Wallace Woon, Marcus Mark Ramos) https://t.co/rgtWtyMGzA pic.twitter.com/8dXlGcjDXb
— CNA (@ChannelNewsAsia) July 19, 2024
Detroit Metro Airport is in chaos this morning with global disruptions to Delta, United and American Airlines flights. Ryan Marshall We'll keep you up to date with the latest from DTW. pic.twitter.com/DfbWnCe9ZB
— WXYZ Detroit (@wxyzdetroit) July 19, 2024
“A third-party software issue is affecting computer systems around the world, including those at United Airlines,” United said in a statement Friday morning. “All aircraft are remaining at their origin airports while we work to restore systems. Flights already in the air are continuing to their destinations.”
This is an evolving story, so check back for further updates.