Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said the issue was caused by its update and a fix has been deployed, noting it was not a security incident or cyberattack.
By Guy Birchall, Emel Akan, Jack Phillips
Crowds are building up at Suvarnabhumi Airport as a global IT disruption caused by a Microsoft outage and a Crowdstrike IT problem combine to affect users in Bangkok, on July 19, 2024. (Mailee Osten-Tan/Getty Images)
What we know about the outages.
By Guy Birchall
A massive internet outage on July 19 caused IT issues for major global institutions, grounding flights, disrupting banks’ apps, knocking media outlets off the air, and even affecting supermarkets’ computer systems.
The issue was caused by a defect in a Windows software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, the company confirmed.
Airports in the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom all reported problems with their IT systems.
American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and Allegiant Air all grounded flights, citing communication problems.
Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, Ryanair, also warned of issues with its booking system.
The Irish airline said on social media platform X: “We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a Global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control. We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time.”
Many businesses reported they were unable to take digital payments.
Microsoft has confirmed it was aware of and fixing issues with its cloud platform, Azure, affecting services and apps, with the company’s service health website warning of “service degradation.”
The outage has left many of the company’s most popular services inaccessible to millions of people and businesses.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on social media that the company was “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.”
He explained that “Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted,” and that the incident was “not a security incident or cyberattack.”
Mr. Kurtz added: “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”
Downdetector, a website that records reports of users struggling to access internet services, showed spikes in outages affecting Visa, Mastercard, Microsoft services, AWS, numerous banks, as well as several supermarkets and airlines.
Microsoft 365, in a social media post, said it was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”
USPS says it is not directly impacted by outage.
By Chase Smith
The United States Postal Service said delivery of mail and packages had not been affected by the incident.
“The postal service was not directly impacted by the global IT outage,” Public Relations Director David Walton said in an email to The Epoch Times.
“We are aware of impacts to some of our third-party vendors, however, this has not impacted our ability to move mail and packages for the American people.”
Security agency warns of bad actors taking advantages of outages
By Chase Smith
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.”
White House: ‘Our understanding is that this is not a cyber attack’
By Emel Akan
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.
Problems for ATMs.
According to staff at a JPMorgan Chase bank branch in Washington, the outage initially affected the ATMs. But they’re back on, he said. However, the teller line is still experiencing some troubles, he added, affecting clients’ ability to do deposits, withdrawals, check cashing, and other related transactions.
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?
By Emel Akan
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.
Shipping companies warn of potential delivery delays.
By Chase Smith
FedEx and UPS are warning customers of potential delivery delays due to the global IT outage.
FedEx said in a statement on their website they had activated contingency plans to “mitigate impacts” caused by the global outage, adding potential delays are possible for package deliveries with a commitment of July 19 delivery.
UPS said they are operating and delivering in all areas but there is a potential for delivery delays, adding they have also put contingency plans in place to “help ensure that shipments arrive at their final destinations as quickly as possible.”
Flights disrupted globally.
By Chase Smith
Thousands of flights have been affected by the global IT outage, according to the world’s largest flight tracking and data platform FlightAware.
The total number of delays reported on FlightAware so far due to the outage is over 26,300 flights globally.
Total delays within, into or out of the United States today total 4,180 with another 1,622 cancellations of flights within, into or out of the United States Friday.
Globally, there have been 2,703 flight cancellations, according to FlightAware data.
911 services down in several states.
Emergency lines have gone down in several states due to the tech CrowdStrike outage.
The U.S. Emergency Alerts System said Friday that a number of 911 lines in multiple states were down, while the Alaska State Troopers confirmed in a post on Facebook that 911 and non-emergency call services were down amid the outage. Emergency services in Ohio and New Hampshire have posted similar messages on Friday.
“Due to a nationwide technology-related outage, many 911 and non-emergency call centers are not working correctly across the State of Alaska,” Alaska State Troopers wrote in a post.
In New Hampshire, the city of Nashua wrote on Facebook that “statewide 911 is down.” The Middletown Division of Police in Ohio wrote it is suffering a 911 outage, too.
Biden briefed about outage.
By Emel Akan
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.
What we know about the outages.
By Guy Birchall
A massive internet outage on July 19 caused IT issues for major global institutions, grounding flights, disrupting banks’ apps, knocking media outlets off the air, and even affecting supermarkets’ computer systems.
The issue was caused by a defect in a Windows software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, the company confirmed.
Airports in the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom all reported problems with their IT systems.
News channel knocked off air
By Guy Birchall
In the UK, major broadcaster Sky News was knocked off air due to the outage.
A Sky News spokesperson said, “Sky News has not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, we apologise for the interruption. All the news is still available online, on the Sky News app, website, and across our social media accounts. We are working hard to restore all services.”
The BBC’s children’s channel, CBBC, also appeared to be off air due to the outage. A message on the British channel read, “Sorry, something is wrong.”
Britain’s biggest train company Govia Thameslink Railway was also among the companies affected, warning passengers to expect disruption due to “widespread IT issues”.
Booking systems used by doctors were also offline, according to multiple reports from medics on X.
Reported Australian outages included several banks, airlines, internet providers, and phone services.
News outlets, including ABC and Sky News, were unable to broadcast as normal with some news anchors reporting live online from dark offices, in front of computers showing error messages.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a social media message said, “I understand Australians are concerned about the outage that is unfolding globally and affecting a wide range of services. There is no impact to critical infrastructure, government services or Triple-0 services (emergency services) at this stage.”
Amazon’s AWS cloud service provider said it was “investigating reports of connectivity issues to Windows EC2 instances and Workspaces within AWS.”
PA media contributed to this report.