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A massive global IT outage has disrupted flights, banking operations, retail services, and media outlets worldwide.
The widespread disruptions have been traced back to an issue with the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Among the affected sectors are airlines in both the US and Europe, several supermarket chains, and emergency 911 lines.
This outage has caused significant operational setbacks in numerous industries, highlighting the interconnected nature of modern technological infrastructures.
Microsoft also acknowledged the issue in an X post early Friday, stating, “Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions.”
Here are some of the companies and operations affected:
Airlines
Several airlines, including the major US carriers United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines, grounded their flights early Friday due to technology issues. Both Delta and American resumed operations by 7 a.m. ET, while United confirmed it was holding aircraft at departure airports as they worked to restore systems. Flights already in the air continued to their destinations.
American Airlines attributed the disruptions to a “technical issue with CrowdStrike,” as quoted by BBC News. Other budget airlines such as Frontier, Allegiant, and Spirit also issued ground stops but later canceled them. Spirit noted difficulties in rebooking affected customers due to the outage.
European airlines were similarly impacted. Ryanair advised passengers to arrive early, citing “disruption across the network,” while KLM largely suspended operations as the outage made flight handling impossible. British Airways, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa, and Qantas were among other affected carriers.
911 Lines
In Alaska, emergency lines experienced issues, as noted in a Facebook post by the Alaska State Troopers. The post reported a technology-related outage affecting many 911 and non-emergency call centers across the state and thanked the public for their patience.
Airports
Major UK airports such as Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton reported disruptions. An X post from Gatwick Express indicated potential short-notice cancellations due to the company’s inability to access driver diagrams. Belfast International Airport resorted to using whiteboards to handwrite flight information before system restoration, a method also employed at Singapore Changi Airport.
Hospitals and Doctors’ Surgeries
In the UK, the NHS’ EMIS system faced issues affecting doctors’ ability to book appointments, view patient records, and manage prescriptions. An NHS spokesperson confirmed that measures were in place to manage the disruption and assured there was no impact on emergency services like 999.
In Germany, two hospitals canceled elective operations scheduled for Friday.
NYCT Subway
New York City’s subway system experienced delays, with a post on X noting unavailable train arrival information due to the worldwide technical outage. While train service was unaffected, the issue impacted officials’ ability to monitor train locations.
Broadcasters
Sky News faced issues, resorting to archive footage and briefly displaying an error message. At the time of writing, their news site was operational.
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange’s website experienced issues with their RNS news service. A statement from the company confirmed technical teams were working to restore the service while other operations continued normally.
Retailers and Fast-Food Giants
McDonald’s Japan suspended operations in about a third of its stores due to issues with cash registers. The grocery chain Woolworths reported disruptions in some stores but continued operations with some limitations in checkout processing.
Delivery Delays
FedEx and UPS warned of delivery delays. FedEx cited substantial disruptions due to the global IT outage, stating parcels scheduled for Friday might be delayed. UPS faced similar issues, with potential service delays affecting some computer systems in the US and Europe.
Driver Services in the US
US states like Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina reported disruptions in driver services. Georgia’s Department of Driver Services posted about the unavailability of their services on X, attributing it to the global Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage.
Hotels
At the Ocean Park Marriott in Hong Kong, staff reverted to using pen and paper for check-ins due to the outage, affecting their global systems. Marriott International confirmed certain systems were impacted and were working with vendors to resolve the issues, apologizing for any inconvenience.
This extensive outage underlines the vulnerability of global technological systems and the wide-reaching impact of cybersecurity issues.
Source
www.yahoo.com