On Friday, a massive global technology failure paralyzed airlines, medical services, television broadcasts, banks and many other businesses and services around the world, a striking example of the fragile dependence of the global economy on certain software and the cascading effect it can have when things go wrong.
The service outage was attributed to CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company whose software is used by dozens of industries around the world to protect against hackers and external attacks. A software update issued by CrowdStrike appeared to be the root of the problem, causing machines running the Microsoft Windows operating system to crash.
“This is not a security incident or a cyberattack,” said George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike. “The issue has been identified, isolated, and a solution has been implemented.”
Here’s how the fallout is being felt around the world:
U.S. airlines reported major disruptions across the country. At least five U.S. airlines — Allegiant Air, American, Delta, Spirit and United — had suspended all flights for a period of time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Problems were also felt at airports around the world, including Hong Kong International Airport, Sydney Airport, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and Denver International Airport. At Manchester Airport in Britain, there were long queues in the departure area as many machines at check-in counters were not working. Ryanair, one of Europe’s largest airlines, said it was experiencing disruptions due to a third-party IT outage that is “totally outside of our control”.
In the United States, the power outage appears to have affected 911 emergency lines in several states, the US Emergency Alert System reported on social media. People experiencing an emergency should call their local police or fire department number.
In Britain, the National Health Service was experiencing a loss of access to its computer systems at several hospitals and doctors’ surgeries.
Many television channels have also reported problems. In France, TF1 and Canal+, among the most watched, have indicated in a message on X that they have not been able to broadcast. “We are all on stage, but there is a huge breakdown in the control room,” making it impossible to broadcast live, wrote Christophe Beaugrand-Guerrin, presenter of TF1, on X.
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