A major internet outage affecting Microsoft is disrupting flights, banks, media outlets and companies across the world, with problems continuing hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Airlines and airports in the United States, Europe, Australia, India and elsewhere were reporting problems, with some flights grounded. Retail outlets, banks, railway companies and hospitals in several parts of the world were also affected in what appeared to be an unprecedented internet disruption.
The issue was caused by a defect in a Windows software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, the company confirmed.
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Delta Air Lines and Its Regional Affiliates Have Canceled Hundreds of Flights
Delta Air Lines and its regional affiliates canceled more than a quarter of their schedule on the East Coast by midafternoon Friday, aviation data provider Cirium said.
More than 1,100 flights for Delta and its affiliates have been canceled.
United and United Express had canceled more than 500 flights, or 12% of their schedule, and American Airlines’ network had canceled 450 flights, 7.5% of its schedule.
Southwest and Alaska do not use the CrowdStrike software that led to the global internet outages and had canceled fewer than a half-dozen flights each.
State and Local Governments in the US Work on Recovering From Internet Outage
States and local governments across the U.S. worked to resolve problems caused by the global internet outage.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said critical state IT systems that had suffered from the outage were fully operational by midafternoon.
In Alaska, the state court system repaired every computer workstation and server, completing the task within 12 hours.
“Thankfully, our Information Services team worked overnight repairing as much as possible to ensure that essential functions are operational and that hearings are able to go forward today,” Koford said in an email.
In Kansas, the outage temporarily blocked the public’s online access to court records because it affected servers for the judicial branch’s case management system, according to spokesperson Lisa Taylor. Servers were back up quickly by Friday afternoon—in sharp contrast to the weeks it took to resume online access to court records after a cyberattack in October.
But in other places, the recovery was slower.
Anthony Lewis, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, came to Norfolk County Superior Court outside Boston for a case, only to learn all cases on Friday were rescheduled.
“I drove all the way out here for nothing,” he said.
White House in Contact With CrowdStrike Executives
The White House says it is in regular contact with executives at CrowdStrike, which makes the software tied to the global internet outage. President Joe Biden is continuing to receive updates, officials said.
Federal agencies also are assessing the effects of the CrowdStrike outage on U.S. government operations, the White House said.
Security Agency Warns of Bad Actors Taking Advantages of Outages
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said it is monitoring the widespread IT outages and warned of bad actors seeking to take advantage of the situation.
“Of note, CISA has observed threat actors taking advantage of this incident for phishing and other malicious activity,” the agency said in a notice.
“CISA urges organizations and individuals to remain vigilant and only follow instructions from legitimate sources.
“CISA recommends organizations to remind their employees to avoid clicking on phishing emails or suspicious links.”
The agency noted the outage itself is not due to “malicious cyber activity.”
Border Crossings Into US Delayed
People seeking to enter the United States from both the north and the south found that the border crossings were delayed by the internet outage.
The San Ysidro Port of Entry was gridlocked Friday morning with pedestrians waiting three hours to cross, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Even cars with people approved for a U.S. Customers and Border Protection “Trusted Traveler” program for low-risk passengers waited up to 90 minutes. The program, known as SENTRI, moves passengers more quickly through customs and passport control if they make an appointment for an interview and submit to a background check to travel through customs and passport control more quickly when they arrive in the United States.
The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System posted on X that some of its employees who live in Tijuana, Mexico, were unable to get to work Friday. The agency said the disruption may affect its service and encouraged riders to check for delays or detours.
Meanwhile, at the U.S.-Canada border, Windsor Police reported long delays at the crossings at the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.
Air Travel Disrupted Around the Globe
Airlines across the world reported disruptions to check-in systems and other issues that caused flights to be grounded or delayed.
German-based airline Eurowings, a budget subsidiary of Lufthansa, called on customers who were traveling inside Germany to book train tickets instead and submit them for reimbursement after it canceled German domestic flights and services to and from the United Kingdom.
At least 100 flights to and from Switzerland’s Zurich Airport were canceled Friday. Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport also saw flights canceled after being hit with the outage. Issues were also reported in the busy European hubs of Amsterdam and Rome.
France’s airport authority reported that some flights were temporarily suspended and there were check-in delays at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.
Thailand’s two largest airports reported being forced to check in passengers manually.
In South Korea, several low-cost airlines reported problems, triggering delays in passenger boardings at Incheon international Airport, the country’s biggest airport, airport officials said.
In Canada, Porter Airlines said it was canceling its flights for several hours because of the outage. Azul Airlines, a Brazilian low-cost airline, said its check-in systems were affected, causing occasional flight delays.
Outages Affect Hospitals, Doctor’s Offices in US, Canada, England
Health care providers across the United States and in Canada and England had their services disrupted by the global internet outage, though some systems saw little or no effect.
Harris Health System, which runs public hospitals and clinics in the Houston area, said it had to suspend hospital visits “until further notice” due to the outage. Elective hospital procedures were being canceled and rescheduled.
The outage affected records systems for Providence, a health system with 51 hospitals in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon, and Washington state.
The New York-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center said it was pausing the start of any procedures that require anesthesia.
In New England, the outage led some hospitals to cancel appointments.
A spokesperson at Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in Massachusetts, said the outage had resulted in all scheduled nonurgent surgeries, procedures, and medical visits being canceled for Friday. Emergency departments remained open.
The 188-hospital HCA Healthcare system said it didn’t expect its ability to provide care to be affected, and in Los Angeles, the Cedars-Sinai Health System remained open and continued to provide care. The Cleveland Clinic also said patient care was not affected.
In Canada, University Health Network, one of that nation’s largest hospital networks, said clinical activity was continuing as scheduled, but some patients may experience delays.
Across the Atlantic, Britain’s National Health Service said there were problems at most doctors’ offices across England as the outage hit the appointment and patient record system used across the health service. The state-funded NHS treats the vast majority of people in the U.K.
The NHS said the 999 number used to call for emergency ambulances wasn’t affected.
If You Want a Starbucks Coffee, You Can’t Order Ahead
People pining for a venti caramel macchiato or a grande frozen mango dragonfruit lemonade found Friday that they couldn’t order ahead from Starbucks online or with their cellphones Friday.
The coffee shop chain apologized for the problem and said it was serving customers in “a vast majority” of its stores and drive-thrus.
Courts in Several US States Disrupted by Outage
Courts in Massachusetts and New York saw their operations disrupted Friday by the global internet outage.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts judiciary said about half of its workstations were down while court transcription recording systems were not operating in a number of courthouses, resulting in delays in some court sessions.
Some court proceedings were also delayed in New York because of computer problems.
In Manhattan, a criminal court proceeding for Harvey Weinstein, who is charged with rape, started 90 minutes late because of disruptions to court and corrections computer systems.
In Southern California, Orange County Superior Court also reported technical issues.
Outage Forces Several US States to Close Driver’s License Offices
The internet outages forced Texas to close all of its driver’s license offices across the state, and New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles couldn’t process transactions online and in its offices Friday morning.
The Texas Department of Public Safety operates driver’s license offices in most of the state’s 254 counties. The agency issues, renews and updates driver licenses or state ID cards and provides driver education courses.
The department said in a statement that “there is no current estimate” on when the offices will reopen.
In New York, the DMV said that by Friday afternoon, some systems had been restored and that it could begin performing online transactions. However, some in-person services were still offline.
At least three of its DMV offices closed for the day because of the outage, according to the agency’s website.
Zackary Blaine, a 28-year-old living in the New York City suburbs, said he took Friday off work expecting to spend a chunk of the day at the DMV only to find security guards turning people away at the door of his local office.
“I’m not too stressed, but it’s kind of wild to think how much something like this impacts things,” Blaine said by phone later.
White House: ‘Our Understanding Is That This Is Not a Cyber Attack’
The White House said on Friday afternoon that President Biden continues to receive updates on the CrowdStrike global tech outage.
“The White House is in regular contact with CrowdStrike’s executive leadership and tracking progress on remediating affected systems,” a senior administration official said.
“We have offered U.S. government support. Our understanding is that this is not a cyber attack, but rather a faulty technical update.”
He also said that the White House has convened agencies to assess the impact of the disruption on the U.S. government and entities around the country.
“At this time, our understanding is that flight operations have resumed across the country, although some congestion remains, and 911 centers are able to receive and process calls,” the official said.
“We are assessing impact to local hospitals, surface transportation systems, and law enforcement closely and will provide further updates as we learn more. We stand ready to provide assistance as needed.”
Portland Mayor Declares State of Emergency
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler on Friday morning declared a citywide state of emergency due to the outage, noting that city service systems and employee computers have been impacted by the tech outage.
“City services that rely on Microsoft Operating Systems using Crowdstrike Endpoint Protection—including certain essential City service providers—are impacted by the problem including emergency communications,” Mr. Wheeler’s office said in a declaration.
The declaration will allow the city to respond by using what it called a “Unified Command” system appointed by the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, according to the order.
More Than 30,000 Flights Delayed
As of noon Eastern Time, the total number of global flight delays due to the worldwide tech outage reached more than 30,000, according to the world’s largest flight tracking and data platform FlightAware.
Total delays involving the United States today totaled 5,944 with another 2,098 cancellations.
Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines accounted for the top three airlines in terms of cancellations—while Chinese, Indian and United Kingdom airlines represented the top three flight operations for delays.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, Chicago’s O’Hare, and New York’s LaGuardia airports were the top three for cancellations as of noon.
Globally, there have been 3,395 flight cancellations, according to FlightAware data.
Social Security Offices Closed Nationwide
Social Security offices across the United States are closed to the public on Friday, due to the global IT outage, the agency announced on X.
“Some online services are unavailable and you can expect longer wait times on [the] national 800 number,” the agency said. “We appreciate your patience while we work to restore services.”
Crowdstrike Shares Plummet
Shares of CrowdStrike Holdings fell sharply on Friday after the company’s software update caused global IT outages, disrupting the operations of many sectors including airlines, hospitals, and energy. The company’s shares plummeted nearly 15 percent in pre-market trading following the outage.
What Is CrowdStrike and What Does It Do?
CrowdStrike is an American cybersecurity technology company based in Austin, Texas. It was co-founded by George Kurtz (CEO), Dmitri Alperovitch, and Gregg Marston in 2011.
The company creates software to assist businesses in detecting and blocking cyber attacks. Many Fortune 500 companies use CrowdStrike, including major banks, healthcare and energy companies.
Major US Carriers Restore Some Flight Operations
Top U.S. carriers including Delta Air and United Airlines are restoring some operations on Friday after a technical issue related to an IT vendor forced multiple carriers to ground flights.
However, delays and cancellations were expected to persist throughout the day, as airlines try to fully recover from the impact of the outage that upended their flying schedules and affected thousands of passengers.
More than 1,400 flights were cancelled across the United States, with nearly 4,000 delayed, as of 10am ET on Friday, according to data tracker FlightAware.
It was not clear if the groundings reported by the major U.S. airlines were related to outages at Microsoft and cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that hit banking, healthcare and a number of other sectors globally on Friday.
Delta and United said they were resuming some flights but expected additional delays and cancellations. The airlines also issued travel waivers for impacted passengers.
Peer American Airlines, which had earlier issued a ground stop notice, said it had safely re-established operations.
While American, Delta and United did not name the vendor, smaller carrier Frontier Airlines said that a “major Microsoft technical outage” hit its operations temporarily.
The issue stemmed from a defect found in a CrowdStrike content update for Microsoft Windows hosts, the cybersecurity firm’s CEO George Kurtz said on Friday.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in an emailed statement it was closely monitoring the technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines and that several airlines had requested its assistance with ground stops.
Ticket Sales for Universal Studios Japan affected by global system outage
Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, western Japan, said the global system outage that started Friday will continue to affect ticket sales at the park over the weekend.
The park said its ticket booths sales will not be available Saturday and Sunday and asked visitors to purchase their tickets on the USJ official website or via designated ticket sales site Lawson Ticket. Park attractions aren’t affected.
911 Emergency Call Centers in Some US States Report Outages
Officials in some U.S. states, including Alaska, Virginia and Iowa, warned of problems to 911 emergency call centers in their areas. Alaska State Troopers warned that many 911 and nonemergency call centers across the state weren’t working correctly and shared alternate numbers.
In Virginia, the City of Fairfax Police Department said on social media that it was experiencing technical difficulties with its phone systems, including 911. The department shared a nonemergency number for callers and said 911 could still be used, but calls wouldn’t go directly to the dispatch center.
The New Hampshire Emergency Services and Communications reported a temporary interruption to 911 calls early Friday, with the system fully restored several hours later, officials said. In Iowa, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office warned on social media that phone lines were down and 911 calls might be routed to neighboring counties, but emergency calls would be promptly redirected to the sheriff’s office.
In New England, the outage led some hospitals to cancel appointments.
A spokesman at Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in Massachusetts, said the outage had resulted in all scheduled nonurgent surgeries, procedures and medical visits being canceled for Friday. Emergency departments remain open and care for patients in the hospital hasn’t been impacted.
Biden Briefed about Global IT Outage
White House said on Friday morning that the president has been briefed on the CrowdStrike outage and his team is in touch with the firm and impacted entities.
“His team is engaged across the interagency to get sector by sector updates throughout the day and is standing by to provide assistance as needed,” the White House stated.
The President was also briefed on the drone attack overnight in Tel Aviv.
DHS, White House Respond to Outage
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Friday it is working with Microsoft and CrowdStrike as well as local officials to deal with system outages worldwide.
While providing few details, the agency said its Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is working with “federal, state, local and critical infrastructure partners to fully assess and address system outages.”
In a statement to news outlets on Friday, the White House’s National Security Council added that it is “looking into” the disruption, which has impacted businesses, hospitals, and airlines worldwide.
“We’re aware of the incident and are looking into the issue and impacts,” a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.
The head of CrowdStrike said that the IT issue causing an outage was identified by the security firm and that it is working on fixing the issue.
Global Cyber Outage Grounds Flights, Hits Banks, Telecoms, Media
A global tech outage was disrupting operations in multiple industries on Friday, with airlines halting flights, some broadcasters off-air, and everything from banking to healthcare hit by system problems.
American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and Allegiant Air grounded flights citing communication problems. The order came shortly after Microsoft said it resolved its cloud services outage that impacted several low-cost carriers, though it was not immediately clear whether those were related.
“A third party software outage is impacting computer systems worldwide, including at United. While we work to restore those systems, we are holding all aircraft at their departure airports,” United said in a statement. “Flights already airborne are continuing to their destinations.”
Australia’s government said outages suffered by media, banks, and telecoms companies there appeared to be linked to an issue at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.
According to an alert sent by Crowdstrike to its clients and reviewed by Reuters, the company’s “Falcon Sensor” software is causing Microsoft Windows to crash and display a blue screen, known informally as the “Blue Screen of Death”.
The alert, which was sent at 0530 GMT on Friday, also shared a manual workaround to rectify the issue.
A Crowdstrike spokesperson did not respond to emails or calls requesting comment.
There was no information to suggest the outage was a cyber security incident, the office of Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuinness said in a post on X.
The outages rippled far and wide.
The travel industry was among the hardest hit with airports around the world, including Tokyo, Amsterdam, Berlin, and several Spanish airports reporting problems with their systems and delays.
International airlines, including Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, warned of problems with their booking systems and other disruptions.
In Britain, booking systems used by doctors were offline, multiple reports from medical officials on X said, while Sky News, one of the country’s major news broadcasters was off air, apologising for being unable to transmit live.
Banks and other financial institutions from Australia to India and South Africa warned clients about disruptions to their services, while LSEG Group reported an outage of its data and news platform Workspace.
Amazon’s AWS cloud service provider said in a statement that it was “investigating reports of connectivity issues to Windows EC2 instances and Workspaces within AWS.”
It was not immediately clear whether all reported outages were linked to Crowdstrike problems or there were other issues at play.
Epoch Times reporters Emel Akan, Guy Birchall, Chase Smith, and Jack Phillips, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.