An internet outage affecting Microsoft is disrupting flights, banks, media outlets and companies across the world, with problems continuing hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Airlines, retail outlets, banks, railway companies and hospitals in several parts of the world were affected in what appeared to be an unprecedented internet disruption.
‘Not a cyberattack’
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.
George Kurtz, the CEO of CrowdStrike, posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) at 5:45 a.m., saying “a fix has been deployed.”
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. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We…
— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024
The concern spread Friday morning to global stock markets.
In the United States, Crowdstrike and Microsoft were both down before the stock exchange opened in New York, which is set for 9:30 a.m.
Crowdstrike was reportedly down 18%.
The Malaysian Stock Exchange experienced disruptions, and the London Stock Exchange experienced some disruptions in its news service but said it was open as normal.
Borsa Italiana, the company that manages Milan’s stock exchange, said the “correct disclosure of the index FTSE MIB has been restored.” Earlier Friday, the company had said that the index had not been updated, without providing additional information.
Flight disruptions
Travel took the brunt of the issues as airlines in the United States, Europe, Australia and India reported problems, with some flights grounded.
In Jacksonville, lines grew through the morning as airlines dealt with the disruptions.
The FAA said it was closely monitoring the technical issue and was assisting with ground stops for airlines that requested help.
The FAA is closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines. Several airlines have requested FAA assistance with ground stops until the issue is resolved. Monitor https://t.co/smgdqJN3td
for updates.— The FAA
(@FAANews) July 19, 2024
The FAA said the United, American, Delta and Allegiant had all been grounded on Friday morning.
American Airlines reported that, as of 5 a.m. ET, it was able to return to normal operations after “a technical issue with a vendor.”
Earlier this morning, a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American. As of 5:00 a.m. ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) July 19, 2024
First responders
Across the U.S., 911 services were reportedly disrupted.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said it had a minor disruption in non-emergency calls but that the lines were back and working by 4:30 a.m.
In Clay County, residents were experiencing intermittent 911 outages, but the county did not say if that was related to the global technology issues.
Residents who can’t reach 911 are asked to use the non-emergency number for Clay County Fire Rescue: 904-284-7703.
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