Wave of IT Outages Causes Chaos Across Industries
On Friday morning, a wave of IT outages struck various industries worldwide, leading to over 1,000 flight cancellations and disruptions in hospitals, banks, stock exchanges, and other institutions. The cause of the outages was not a cyberattack, according to CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity technology firm. Instead, it was identified as a software issue that has since been addressed with a fix.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz clarified in an interview with CNBC that while some systems can be quickly fixed and brought back online, others may take longer. He recommended affected organizations to refer to the support portal for updates and to communicate with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. The company assured its customers that their team is fully mobilized to ensure security and stability.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) also reported being impacted by the outage, although there was no indication that law enforcement activities were affected. The DOJ Office of the Chief Information Officer acknowledged the significance of the issue and stated that restoration time is uncertain. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an alert to hospitals and law enforcement agencies, acknowledging the impact on multiple government agencies.
Various hospitals across the country experienced disruptions as well. Mass General Brigham in Boston and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center reported canceling elective surgeries and facing other disruptions. The D.C. Metro system also confirmed internal system issues but assured the public that bus and train operations were unaffected.
The global outage extended beyond the United States, affecting organizations worldwide. Berlin Airport in Germany, the London Stock Exchange, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom all reported IT outages. Microsoft acknowledged the issue, stating that they were investigating and working to restore access to their apps and services.
The airline industry was significantly affected, with over 1,000 flights canceled in the U.S. American Airlines, United, and Delta requested a global ground stop on all flights, leading to delays and cancellations. Delta and American Airlines had the highest rate of cancellations and delays. Passengers expressed frustration, highlighting the lack of information provided by the airlines.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the CrowdStrike outage, and his team is in contact with the company and impacted organizations. The White House assured that they are monitoring the situation closely and standing by to provide assistance.
The stock price of CrowdStrike dropped nearly 15% in early trading as a result of the global IT outage. Microsoft also offered users a way to restore their Windows 365 Cloud PC to a previous state before the update that caused the issue.
As the situation continues to develop, it is essential for organizations and individuals to stay updated through official channels and be prepared for potential delays and disruptions.
