A significant IT outage has caused widespread disruption on Friday, affecting airlines, banks, and media outlets around the globe. The outage has led to grounded flights, interrupted services, and chaos at airports.
Reports of outages began emerging from various regions, with the UK’s Sky News being forced off the air for several hours on Friday morning. Microsoft’s Azure and Office365 services were among the affected, with the company reporting issues around 18:00 ET on Thursday.
“Users are experiencing difficulties accessing various Microsoft 365 apps and services,” Microsoft posted on X. “We expect gradual relief as we mitigate the issue.”
Airlines such as Qantas in Australia, and US carriers Frontier and Sun Country, were compelled to ground flights. Ryanair in Europe confirmed disruptions due to a “global third-party IT outage,” as users faced difficulties checking in via the app and website.
Several European airports, including Berlin Brandenburg and Edinburgh, reported IT problems. Zurich Airport in Switzerland temporarily stopped aircraft from landing, while Amsterdam Schiphol and airports in New Zealand, Japan, and India also faced flight issues.
In the UK, supermarkets like Aldi, Morrison’s, and Waitrose experienced card payment issues. Hospitals and pharmacies, including two German hospitals, reported difficulties in accessing medical records, leading to the cancellation of non-urgent surgeries.
Initial reports suggest the outage may be linked to an antivirus software update from global security firm Crowdstrike. The update reportedly “bricked” devices, causing repeated Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors. Crowdstrike acknowledged the issue in a communiqué, stating: “CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon Sensor.”
Lauren Wills-Dixon, a data privacy expert at UK-based law firm Gordons, commented, “While we don’t yet know the exact cause, it appears linked to Microsoft and Crowdstrike. This incident highlights our reliance on certain tech and the chaos caused by downtime.”
Euronews Next has contacted Crowdstrike for further confirmation. As the situation evolves, more information is expected to emerge regarding the root cause and scope of the outage.