New York, Friday, July 19, 2024 — A massive global communications outage has disrupted businesses and institutions across multiple countries, affecting airlines, government services, banks, supermarkets, telecoms, and media outlets this moring.
The cause of the outage was not immediately clear, but it followed hours after Microsoft announced it was addressing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Industry experts have suggested that the global tech disruption seems to be related to an issue with CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that serves Microsoft Windows among its clients.
Many airlines and airports around the globe were hit by the outage.
Major U.S. airlines, including Delta, United, and American Airlines, were grounded due to communication issues, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
In Australia, flight information screens at Sydney Airport went blank. Sydney Airport advised travelers to expect delays, while Melbourne Airport reported check-in disruptions.
Airports in the United Kingdom, Germany, Malaysia, and the Philippines also faced service disruptions.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport also reported impacts on flights but the extent was unclear.
All airports in Spain experienced delays due to an IT system incident. Air France confirmed its operations were affected, though flights already en route were not impacted.
Meanwhile the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Network Ten reported that their systems were affected.
In the UK, Sky News said the glitch ended its morning news broadcasts.
Many banks and financial institutions were also were reportedly affected by the glitch.
Bendigo Bank stated that “online banking and some transactions” were impacted.
Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator acknowledged a “large-scale technical outage” affecting numerous businesses and services across the country.
Self-service checkouts at Woolworths and Coles also displayed error messages.
Malaysia’s Bursa Malaysia Bhd stock exchange is experiencing technical outages, including disruptions to the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index value feed, according to Bernama. KTM Microsoft Windows.
