Toronto Jul 19th, 2024 6:25 pm:
A global IT outage caused major infrastructure worldwide to grind to a halt on Friday. Institutions ranging from airports to GP surgeries suffered disruption after their computer systems were offline. CrowdStrike, the firm at the centre of the outage, said it was “deeply sorry” for the incident but warned it would take “some time” for systems to be fully restored.
What happened?
CrowdStrike confirmed the issue was caused by a “defect in a single content update for Windows hosts”. In other words, this was a flaw in a software update pushed out to customers using Microsoft Windows PCs, which crashed. CrowdStrike is one of the world’s largest cybersecurity providers, providing antivirus and cyberattack prevention tools to thousands of businesses.
What was affected?
The NHS was at the centre of the outage in England, causing disruption “in the majority of GP practices” as well as pharmacies. Several ambulance services reported increased pressure and higher call volumes after GP services were affected, while some NHS external providers also faced system issues. Large queues formed at airports across the UK as airlines reported being unable to process passengers and resorted to manually checking in customers. Meanwhile, Sky News was briefly knocked off the air, and many retailers reported issues with taking digital payments.
How long will it take to resolve?
George Kurtz, chief executive of CrowdStrike, said a fix had been deployed for the bug but added it could take “some time for some systems that just automatically won’t recover”. Given the scale of devices and businesses impacted, it could take several days for every impacted computer to be fixed and returned to normal use, particularly at smaller firms with fewer resources. Signs of disruption are likely to remain throughout Friday and into the weekend.
What did CrowdStrike and Microsoft say?
Kurtz stated, “It is our mission to make sure that every customer is fully recovered, and we’re not going to relent until we get every customer back to where they were, and we’ll continue to protect them and keep the bad guys out of their systems.” Microsoft chief communications officer Frank Shaw said, “Earlier today, a CrowdStrike update was responsible for bringing down several Windows systems globally. We are actively supporting customers to assist in their recovery.”
Who’s to blame?
CrowdStrike admitted responsibility for the software bug in a system update that caused the outage, which did not affect Mac and Linux users. CEO Mr. Kurtz stated it was not a cyberattack and assured customers of continued protection. Microsoft provided suggestions to resolve the issue, including restoring backup systems. However, J.J. Guy from Sevco criticized the poor resiliency of Microsoft’s operating system, which exacerbated the incident.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated they are working with CrowdStrike to offer technical guidance and restore systems.
Everything from airlines to banks to healthcare systems in many countries was hit.
– Airlines: In Australia, passengers faced long lines at Sydney airport as information screens went blank, and programming was disrupted at the national broadcaster. Airports in Britain, Germany, and Taiwan experienced long delays at check-ins, with flights being delayed or cancelled. In South Korea, handwritten boarding passes were issued.
– Ripple Effect: The cancellation of flights at 25 airports led to a cascading effect of delays and cancellations worldwide.
– U.S. Airports: The Federal Aviation Administration reported intermittent ground stops and delays due to residual technology issues.
Additional Impacts
– Emergency Services: The outage affected emergency 911 lines in multiple U.S. states, though most issues were resolved by midmorning.
– Healthcare: Some hospitals in Germany cancelled elective procedures, and some doctors in Britain’s NHS faced system access issues. Kaiser Permanente in the U.S. activated backup systems to continue patient care.
– Banking: JPMorgan Chase experienced delays in processing trades, and TD Bank customers faced online account access issues.
– Other Sectors:
– London’s Heathrow Airport and the London Stock Exchange largely operated as usual.
– The Norwegian central bank’s auction system was briefly interrupted.
– Sense Bank and Vodafone in Ukraine reported brief issues.
– Dubai International Airport resumed operations with alternative systems.
– Major U.S. grocery chains were unaffected, but UPS and FedEx faced delivery delays due to system disruptions.
