Microsoft Outage: CrowdStrike Disrupts Airlines, Trains, and Banks Globally
Since Friday, July 19, a major outage affecting the Windows operating system has impacted numerous Microsoft clients around the world. From airports to media companies and banks, the outage has left a trail of disruption.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has acknowledged that a “defect” in a software update has triggered the massive IT outage currently wreaking havoc worldwide.
CrowdStrike, a global cybersecurity leader serving thousands of clients, confirmed on Friday that a flawed software update was behind the significant IT disruption impacting airports, banks, hospitals, media outlets, and businesses around the world.
The initial reports of outages began flooding in from various locations early on Friday, with UK broadcaster Sky News being forced off the air for several hours. Travelers experienced widespread disruption, with airlines canceling flights and airports grappling with system failures and delays. The outage also affected global users of Microsoft’s Azure and Office365 services, with issues first reported around 18:00 ET on Thursday, or midnight CET on Friday.
In a statement on X, Microsoft mentioned that it was “investigating an issue affecting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.” The tech giant added, “We still expect that users will see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue.”
Airlines such as Qantas in Australia, as well as at least two low-cost carriers in the US—Frontier and Sun Country Airlines—were compelled to ground flights. In Europe, users of Ryanair’s app and website reported issues with checking in for flights, with a surge of reports appearing on the outage tracking site Downdetector.com. Ryanair confirmed on X that it was “experiencing disruption” due to a “global third-party IT outage.”
Carriers like KLM have advised passengers to anticipate delays or canceled flights due to the inability to manage handling services. Several European airports, including Berlin Brandenburg, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam Schiphol, reported IT problems affecting check-in processes and flight operations. Airports in New Zealand, Japan, and India have also been impacted, while Zurich Airport in Switzerland has temporarily halted aircraft landings.
In the UK, supermarkets such as Aldi, Morrison’s, and Waitrose reported issues with card payment processing. Additionally, hospitals, pharmacies, and doctors’ offices across the UK have experienced difficulties accessing medical records and staff schedules, with reports indicating that non-urgent surgeries were canceled at two German hospitals in Lübeck and Kiel.
Airports, Banks, Media, and Hospitals Paralyzed
In recent hours, numerous businesses around the world have been affected by this bug. As time progresses, more companies are being impacted. Australia was the first country significantly hit by this outage, particularly affecting the ABC television network and Sydney Airport. Photos shared online showed long queues at the country’s largest airport. Supermarkets experienced issues with self-service checkout terminals, and telecommunications company Telstra also encountered problems.
Gradually, many international airports have also been affected, disrupting global air traffic. American airlines Delta, United, and American Airlines had to leave their planes on the tarmac due to “communication problems.” The same situation is occurring in Europe, with airports in Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, and across Spain experiencing halted air traffic. The outage is also affecting the financial sector, notably the London Stock Exchange, which had to delay its opening this morning. In Australia, Commonwealth Bank, the country’s largest bank, reported that some customers were unable to transfer money this Friday morning. The Paris Stock Exchange was down 0.68% this morning, reflecting investor concern. Moreover, all global stock exchanges are currently in the red. Additionally, hospitals are impacted, such as in the Netherlands, where an emergency service had to be closed and surgeries were postponed.
What Caused the Global Outage?
On Friday, George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, confirmed that a “defect” in a content update for Windows was the root cause of the outage. Kurtz stated, “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 affected. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed.”
CrowdStrike has advised customers to check its support portal for updates and to continue communicating with CrowdStrike representatives “through official channels.” Kurtz added, “Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”
Initial speculation on Friday suggested that an antivirus software update from CrowdStrike might be to blame. Devices, including computers and phones, reportedly became “bricked,” meaning they were rendered inoperable due to corrupted software. Users on the CrowdStrike subreddit (r/crowdstrike) shared an advisory from the company indicating that the Falcon Sensor was causing repeated Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors and preventing devices from rebooting.
Euronews Next reached out to CrowdStrike directly to confirm whether this Falcon Sensor issue was indeed the “defect” mentioned by the CEO. Commenting on the outage, Lauren Wills-Dixon, a data privacy expert at the UK-based law firm Gordons, told Euronews Next: “We’ll likely learn more as time goes on, but this incident underscores our heavy reliance on specific technologies, the trust organizations place in them and their security practices, and the chaos that downtime can create.”
