A widespread IT outage on Friday morning led to over 1,000 flight cancellations and disrupted systems across various industries, including hospitals, banks, stock exchanges, and other institutions. The incident affected many Microsoft Windows-based computers.
CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity technology firm, clarified that the outage was due to a software issue rather than a cyber attack. The company identified the problem and deployed a fix.
“Some systems can be restored immediately, while others may take hours or longer,” said CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz in a CNBC interview. He noted that some customers will need more than just a system reboot to resolve the issues.
Kurtz explained, “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted.” He directed affected customers to the support portal for the latest updates and urged them to communicate through official channels. The company’s team is fully mobilized to ensure customer security and stability.
Wide-Ranging Impact
The outage led to 911 disruptions in Alaska, according to the Alaska State Troopers. The Department of Justice (DOJ) also experienced issues, with some computers affected, though law enforcement activities in the field remained operational. A notice from the DOJ Office of the Chief Information Officer described the issue as “significant” with no set restoration time.
The DOJ has alerted users and is working on troubleshooting with Component CIOs and technical teams. Additionally, law enforcement has been warned about hackers distributing malware disguised as bogus software fixes for the CrowdStrike issue.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that multiple government agencies, including the secretary’s operations center, were affected. Some hospitals, such as Mass General Brigham in Boston and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, also experienced disruptions.
The D.C. Metro system reported internal system outages, while New York City’s mass transit system confirmed that bus and train operations were unaffected, though some customer information systems were offline.
Global Reach
The IT outage had a global impact, with incidents reported at Berlin Airport in Germany, the London Stock Exchange, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom. Microsoft acknowledged issues with accessing various Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Airlines are gradually resuming operations, but delays and cancellations are expected to persist into the afternoon. Over 1,000 flights were canceled in the U.S. as American Airlines, United, and Delta requested a global ground stop from the FAA.
Delta and American Airlines reported the highest rates of cancellations and delays. Delta, which canceled 331 flights and delayed 194, has resumed some departures.
“We’re aware of a technical issue with CrowdStrike affecting multiple carriers. We’re working to resolve it quickly and apologize for the inconvenience,” said American Airlines in a statement.
United Airlines also confirmed the impact, stating, “While we work to restore systems, we are holding all aircraft at departure airports. Flights already airborne are continuing to their destinations.”
President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation, and his team is monitoring sector updates and standing by to provide assistance as needed, according to the White House.
CrowdStrike’s stock price plunged nearly 15% in early trading on Friday, reaching its lowest level since May.
