Millions are being impacted by an ongoing global tech outage.
What Happened
CNBC reports CrowdStrike, “the world’s most advanced cloud-native platform,” triggered a Microsoft operating system issue Friday, July 19, when it sent an update, causing a global outage that disrupted airlines, businesses, global banks, and emergency services.
CrowdStrike Response
At the time of this writing, the outage is reportedly not believed to be the result of a security incident or cyberattack, according to CrowdStrike President and CEO George Kurtz.
“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 wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. 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.”
How People Are Being Effected
Many are feeling the immediate effects sparked by CrowdStrike. Some travelers are bringing their frustrations to social media as they experience flight delays and are now on standby at the airport.
CNN reports there were over 1,700 flights cancelled going into or out of the United States, as well as 4,473 flights delayed, as of 11 a.m. ET.
@theageaustralia The global IT outage impacting Microsoft systems is mostly affecting Australia, Europe and the United States. Airlines, banks, supermarkets and other business are still facing disruptions. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has just issued a statement about the major IT outage, saying his government is working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator. cybersecurity techology microsoft outage
“Been stuck in an airport for the last 24 hours now. The airports are lined with people sleeping everywhere due to this IT thing. American Airlines better be giving some compensation,” X user Lauren (lightsuplauren) wrote.
X user Jordyn Holman (JordynJournals) explained, “As I sit in an airport terminal in South Korea, delayed because of the system outage that began in the U.S., let me remind everyone again how interconnected the world is.”
The financial sector is also experiencing various issues.
Banks and financial companies around the world have reported issues, which has led to some customers not receiving direct deposits, among other issues, City News Everywhere reports.
Largest IT Outage In History?
Some are now calling this the “largest IT outage in history.”
“This outage is historic. We haven’t had an incident like this,” said Mikko Hypponen, a security expert and chief research officer at WithSecure, a Finnish cybersecurity company, according to The New York Times.
Cybersecurity researcher Troy Hunt, creator of HaveIBeenPwned, shared on X, “I don’t think it’s too early to call it: this will be the largest IT outage in history.”
CrowdStrike Is Working To Resolve The Issue
While speaking on the “TODAY” show, Kurtz issued an apology to customers and travelers.
“I want to start with saying we’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our company,” he explained. “…The system was sent an update, and that update had a software bug in it and caused an issue with the Microsoft operating system. …And now we are working with each and every customer to make sure that we can bring them back online.”
