A mass IT outage has disrupted businesses and services globally, affecting Windows PCs and leading to significant issues in various sectors, including airlines, trains, and financial markets.
The outage, which began affecting Windows PCs, has taken a toll on numerous businesses worldwide, including banks, airlines, train companies, telecommunications, and media broadcasters. In the UK, Sky News was unable to broadcast live TV on Friday morning. Major US airlines such as American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines faced groundings, while airports in Germany, Amsterdam, and Spain reported similar issues.
Microsoft is currently addressing the lingering impact of its 365 applications and services, which are in a degraded state. It is unclear if this is related to the global outage affecting airports and train services. Ryanair warned customers of potential disruptions affecting all airlines, though the specifics remain unclear. At Edinburgh Airport, passengers were unable to use automated boarding pass scanners, and security monitors displayed “server offline” messages, leading to manual checks.
In the UK, train services operated by Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express, and Great Northern experienced widespread IT issues, leading to potential short-notice cancellations. National Rail’s IT teams are actively investigating the root cause of the problem.
The London Stock Exchange was also impacted, with out-of-date prices displayed and trading affected. The FTSE-100 opened lower, and other major European stock indices followed suit. Users on the subreddit for cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike reported issues across India, the United States, and New Zealand, with Australians being locked out of their workstations early on Friday. Australia’s National Security Coordinator is aware of the large-scale outage but has no information suggesting a cybersecurity incident.
