Crowdstrike admits 'defect' in software update caused IT outage that is wreaking worldwide chaos

23.07.2024 - 23:11 / euronews.com / George Kurtz

Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity firm with thousands of customers globally, admitted on Friday that a defective software update had caused the major IT outage that brought airports, banks, hospitals, media outlets, and businesses to a halt worldwide.

Reports of outages began streaming in from around the globe early on Friday, with broadcaster Sky News in the UK forced off the air for several hours.

Companies are beginning to see a recovery by Friday afternoon but not before mass disruption of services in several industries caused havoc around the planet.

Travellers faced widespread disruption with airlines cancelling over 3,300 flights, according to aviation analytics company Cirium, and airports struggling to cope with system failures and delays.

The outage has also impacted global customers of Microsoft's Azure and Office365 services, which first reported being hit at about 18.00 ET on Thursday, or midnight CET on Friday.

In a post on X, the Big Tech giant said it was "investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services".

"We still expect that users will continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue," it added.

Airlines such as Qantas in Australia and carriers in the US, including major airlines United and American Airlines, were forced to ground flights.

In Europe, users of Ryanair's app and website also complained about not being able to check in for their flights on Friday morning, with a surge of reports noted on the outage tracking website Downdetector.com.

In a post on X, the airline confirmed it was "experiencing disruption" due to a "global 3rd party IT outage".

Other carriers in Europe, including KLM, informed customers to expect delays or cancelled flights as handling services was "not possible," according to the Dutch airline.

Several European airports have reported IT issues, including Berlin Brandenberg Airport which has told customers to expect delays at check-in. At Edinburgh Airport in the UK, a computer error caused departure boards to freeze.

Amsterdam Schiphol also reported issues with flights affected, as did airports in Germany, the UK, New Zealand, Japan, and India.

Switzerland's largest airport, Zurich, stopped aircraft from landing.

In the UK, supermarkets like Aldi, Morrison's, and Waitrose reported experiencing issues accepting card payments.

Hospitals, pharmacies, and doctors' surgeries in the UK were also hit, reporting difficulties retrieving medical records, staff rosters and more, with reports of two German hospitals in Luebeck and Kiel also cancelling non-urgent surgeries.

In a statement on Friday, George Kurtz, CEO of Crowdstrike, confirmed that a "defect" in a content update for Windows machines is behind the outage.

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