A major internet outage affecting Microsoft disrupts flights, banks, media and businesses around the world, with problems persisting hours after the tech company said it was gradually resolving an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Airlines and airports in the United States, Europe, Australia, India and elsewhere have reported problems, with some flights being suspended. Retail stores, banks, railways and hospitals in several parts of the world have also been affected by what appears to be an unprecedented internet disruption.
Here is the latest news:
Banks in South Africa experience service disruptions for several hours
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — At least two major banks in South Africa said they suffered service disruptions as customers complained they could not make card payments at supermarkets and gas stations or use ATMs. Both said they were able to restore service within hours.
Southern Africa’s regional airline Airlink also reported its computer network and phone lines were down due to what it called a global network outage, but said flights were not affected.
London Stock Exchange experiences disruptions, but trading is unaffected
LONDON — The London Stock Exchange said it was experiencing disruptions due to the technology outage that has created chaos around the world.
The LSE said its regulatory information service was down on Friday morning, but the outage had not affected trading.
“We are currently experiencing a technical issue involving a third party that is affecting some of our services,” a spokesperson for the London Stock Exchange Group said in a statement.
The exchange says it is trying to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
Long queues at many airports around the world, but some systems are back online
Long queues formed at many airports around the world as the global internet outage affected flight check-in procedures – although in some places the systems were now back online.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport is gradually resuming normal operations, the airport said in a statement, although some airlines were forced to cancel flights after being hit by the outage from 07:00 local time (0500 GMT).
“Passenger processing continued with some restrictions. Departures took place with restrictions. There are still waiting times. Unfortunately, some flights had to be cancelled by the airlines. The airport systems have been restarted and we are gradually returning to normal operations,” the airport said.
German airline Eurowings, a low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa, has announced that it has had to cancel its domestic flights in Germany as well as its services to and from the UK due to disruptions to its check-in and boarding procedures. It has urged people travelling to Germany to rebook their train tickets and submit them for refunds.
In South Korea, several budget airlines have reported problems, causing delays in passenger boarding at Incheon International Airport, the country’s largest, airport officials said.
Jeju Air Co. said it was experiencing problems with ticketing and other services on its website. Air Premia Inc. said key services on its website, such as ticket reservations, cancellations and online check-in, were not working. Eastar Jet Co.’s website was not accessible Friday night. Incheon airport officials and the country’s transportation ministry said they were checking details of the damage.
AirAsia has announced plans to fly to Thailand Facebook page stating that its booking and check-in system had been impacted and encouraging passengers to arrive at airports early as they may face slower check-in and longer queues.
In the USA, United Airlines The airline said the outage was impacting its computer systems and warned customers of possible flight delays. The airline said some flights were resuming and that it was issuing waivers to make it easier to change travel plans on its website.
Cybersecurity firm at heart of IT outage says problem is not cyberattack or security incident
LONDON — The chief executive of the cybersecurity firm at the heart of a global Microsoft outage said it is working to fix a flaw sent in a Windows update.
“This is not a security incident or a cyberattack,” CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on the social platform. X“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
Kurtz said there was a flaw in a “one-time content update for Windows hosts.” Mac and Linux hosts were not affected.
The company has referred customers to its support portal for updates.
Norwegian pharmacy chains report problems with prescription drug supply
HELSINKI — Two pharmacy chains in Norway said they were having difficulty supplying customers with prescription medications and were facing significant connection delays due to global network problems.
Several branches of pharmacy Apotek1 have closed across Norway after being hit by IT problems that also led to the chain halting its online sales, Norwegian news agency NTB reported.
Pharmacy and drugstore chain Boots has also experienced problems delivering products to customers in Norway. Boots said that “due to global network issues, you may experience difficulties when ordering and possible delays in shipments,” NTB reported.
Paris Olympic Games Organizers say arrival of some Olympic delegations delayed
PARIS — Organizers of the Paris Olympics said the arrival of some Olympic delegations, as well as the delivery of some uniforms and accreditations, were delayed because of the outage.
The organizers said in a statement that ticketing and the torch relay were not affected. “Our teams are fully mobilized to ensure the continuity of operations at an optimal level,” the organizers said.
Internet outage causes problems at most GP surgeries in England
LONDON — Britain’s National Health Service says a global internet outage is causing problems at most medical practices across England.
NHS England said in a statement that the issue affected the appointment booking and medical records system used across the health service. The publicly funded NHS treats the vast majority of people in the UK
The NHS said the problem was affecting the majority of GP surgeries, but was not reaching the 999 number used to call emergency ambulances.
Airlines worldwide report flight disruptions
Airlines around the world, from Thailand to Australia, India, the United States and several European countries, have reported disruptions to check-in systems and other problems that have led to flights being grounded or delayed.
As athletes and spectators from around the world travel to France for the Paris Olympics, the Paris airport authority says its computer systems are “not impacted” by the global outage, but several airlines and airports elsewhere are.
As a result, “this situation has an impact on the operations of airlines at Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly airports: delays in check-in, delays and temporary suspension of certain flights. Our teams are mobilized to guide and assist passengers,” the airport management said in a press release.
In the United States, the FAA said United, American, Delta and Allegiant airlines had all been grounded.
Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, the gateway to one of the world’s most visited cities, reported that some airlines were forced to manually check in passengers due to system outages, while at Don Mueang, the country’s second-largest airport, Air Asia also manually checked in passengers. The director of Tourism of Thailand, the country’s tourism authority, told state broadcaster Thai PBS that the problem involved Navitaire, an e-commerce platform for air travel, and that up to six airports had been affected.
In Germany, flights at Berlin Brandenburg Airport were halted for several hours starting Friday morning due to check-in problems, while some flights were canceled. An airport spokeswoman said flights resumed after 10 a.m. Problems were also reported at busy European hubs Amsterdam, Zurich and Rome.
Baltic Container Hub in Poland Suspends Operations
WARSAW — Baltic Hub, a major container hub in the Baltic port of Gdansk, Poland, said it is facing problems resulting from the global system outage. Its gateways are temporarily closed and operations have been suspended, Baltic Hub said in a statement.
British channel back on air
LONDON — British broadcaster Sky News has resumed broadcasting after a power outage that disrupted its morning broadcast. The news anchor referred to printed notes when Sky News resumed broadcasting. The network was able to broadcast news online, on its app and on its website during the outage.
Milan Stock Index Information Restored
ROME — Borsa Italiana, the company that operates the Milan Stock Exchange, said that “the correct publication of the FTSE MIB index has been restored.” Earlier Friday, the company had said the index had not been updated, without providing further information.
Israeli Cybersecurity Directorate blames outage on cybersecurity platform Crowdstrike
JERUSALEM — Israel’s cybersecurity directorate announced Friday that it was among the countries affected by global outages, attributing them to a problem with the cybersecurity platform Crowdstrike. The outage also affected the country’s post offices and hospitals, according to the communications and health ministries.
A recording played on CrowdStrike’s customer service line said: “CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Microsoft ports related to the Falcon sensor.” The company attributed the problems to one of its products used to block online attacks. It said callers should monitor its customer support portal.
