Travel, banking, shopping, and media are all being affected by a massive worldwide IT disruption. There is a connection between the widespread disruptions and a problem with the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Supermarkets, certain 911 lines, and US and European airlines are among the operations impacted.
Worldwide travel, banking, retail, and media sources have all been impacted by a widespread IT failure. It looks that CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company, is connected to the problems. In an early Friday X post, Microsoft also confirmed the problem, noting that “while we continue to take mitigation actions, our services are still seeing continuous improvements.”
All three of the major US airlines—United, Delta, and American—were among the several airlines that halted flights early on Friday morning. They each mentioned technological difficulties in their statements. Before seven a.m. ET, American and Delta had both canceled their ground stops. All aircraft are being held at their departure locations while United tries to restore systems, a spokeswoman for the airline told Business Insider.
“Flights already airborne are continuing to their destinations,” they stated. Due to a “technical issue with Crowdstrike that is impacting multiple carriers,” American has attributed the problems to CrowdStrike, as reported by BBC News. Additionally, ground stops were announced by low-cost carriers Spirit, Allegiant, and Frontier, although they were eventually canceled. Frontier released its on Thursday evening. It said in a statement that “a major Microsoft technical outage is currently affecting flight operations.” Spirit reported that because to the interruption, it was unable to rebook impacted customers.
Europe was not immune to disruption. Travelers were encouraged to arrive early by Ryanair, the largest airline on the continent, since the outage created “disruption across the network.” Not only was flight handling impossible due to the outage, but KLM also stated that it had to “largely suspend operations.” Among the airlines that reported being impacted were Qantas, British Airways, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Eurowings, and Lufthansa.
According to a Facebook post from Alaska State Troopers, emergency lines in the state are also affected. The post said: “Due to a nationwide technology-related outage, many 911 and non-emergency call centers are not working correctly across the State of Alaska.” “We appreciate your patience and will update you when we know more,” the statement added.
The major UK airports Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton have reported issues, with some warning of delays and disruption. An X post from Gatwick Express, a train service for the airport, said the company was unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, “leading to potential short-notice cancelations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.” A spokesperson for Belfast International Airport confirmed to BI that whiteboards were being used to handwrite flight information before systems were later restored. Whiteboards were also used at Singapore Changi Airport.
Several hospitals and doctors’ practices appear to have been affected by the outage. In the UK, the NHS’ EMIS system, which doctors use to book appointments, view patient notes, order prescriptions, and make referrals, appears to be having issues. A spokesperson for the NHS told BI in a statement: “The NHS is aware of a global IT outage and an issue with EMIS, an appointment and patient record system, which is causing disruption in the majority of GP practices.” They said that long-standing measures were in place to manage disruption and that there was no known impact on 999 or emergency services, so people should use these services as normal. “Patients should attend appointments unless told otherwise and only contact their GP if it’s urgent, and otherwise please use 111 online or call 111,” they added. Two German hospitals canceled elective operations scheduled for Friday, Reuters reported.
Sky News also appears to have been hit by the outage. The UK news channel has been showing archive footage and briefly displaying an error message. The news site appears to be up and running at the time of writing.
Bloomberg reported that McDonald’s Japan suspended about a third of its stores in the country on Friday. The issue was with the stores’ cash registers, the report said. The grocery-store chain Woolworths told BI that some stores had “been impacted as a result of the global IT issue.” All but six stores were open for business, but some had fewer functioning checkouts.
FedEx and UPS are warning of delivery delays because of the outage. In a statement on the company’s website, FedEx said it was experiencing “substantial disruptions throughout our networks due to a global IT outage experienced by a third-party software vendor.” The company said parcels due to be delivered on Friday might face delays. A UPS spokesperson told BI that it continues to operate effectively but there may be some service delays due to third-party outage “impacting some UPS computer systems in the U.S. and Europe.”
Drivers in some states are unable to access services because of the outage. Georgia’s Department of Driver Services posted on X that “due to the global Microsoft/Crowdstrike outage, DDS services are unavailable at this time.” Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security said some Driver Services Centers may not be able to process transactions, according to a post on X. North Carolina’s Department of Motor Vehicles driver license and plate agencies are also impacted and unable to assist customers, according to a CNN report.
Bloomberg reported that at the Ocean Park Marriott in Hong Kong, staff were using pen and paper to check guests in and said the outage was affecting their systems globally. Marriott International later told CNN in a statement that “certain hotel systems” have been affected. “We are actively working with our vendors to resolve issues that have impacted certain hotel systems,” the company said in a statement to the publication. “We apologize for any inconvenience that guests may experience.”
This incident underscores the interconnectedness of modern infrastructure and the potential vulnerability of relying on a single service provider for critical operations. The global reach of the outage and its impact on various sectors highlight the need for robust contingency plans and diversified system redundancies. It also raises questions about the security and reliability of cloud-based services and the preparedness of organizations to handle such widespread disruptions.
Even businesses that specialize in security may experience technical difficulties, as evidenced by the fact that a single issue with CrowdStrike, a significant participant in the cybersecurity sector, can result in such wide-ranging issues. This necessitates reassessing the efficacy of cybersecurity measures as well as the value of putting in place backup systems and several levels of protection.
The fragility of our interconnected world is starkly brought to light by this worldwide IT outage. It highlights how crucial it is to have thorough disaster recovery plans, maintain a diverse pool of service providers, and prioritize cybersecurity in order to lessen the effects of unforeseen disasters. Ensuring the stability and security of these systems will be crucial as technology develops and our reliance on digital infrastructure increases.
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