Microsoft customers globally have been hit by a cyber issue that resulted in flights being grounded and some banking facilities not functioning in countries outside the US. It is believed that the outage is linked to a software update from cyber security firm CrowdStrike. Windows users’ screens had the Blue Screen of death as their operating system malfunctioned.
This outage was not only experienced by domestic users but also by government agencies as well. The Social Security Administration has closed its local offices to the public on Friday and shut down numerous services. The agency said in a statement that it expects longer wait times for the national 800 number, and some online services may be unavailable. In an internal memo to staff, the agency directed employees to work on internal agency workloads while they work to restore services.
Some of the Affected Services
- Airlines
- Emergency Services
- DHS
- Television Networks
- Microsoft Windows Operating system
- Banks (outside US)
- Health Facilities (outside US)
- Mastercard and Visa (outside US)
“Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.” said George Kurtz. “They are also actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts”
Kurtz apologized to those who are affected by the issue while stressing that this was not a cyber attack but a software update issued to certain CrowdStrike customers who use Microsoft Windows.
Many travelers are left frustrated and stranded at airports waiting for flights to be rescheduled due to cancellations by airlines. Although a lot of the services are not impacted by the outage some significant delays and cancellation are continuing at airports across the country. Airlines have asked travelers to be patient and show some grace as they have no time frame when the systems will be back to normal cancellation as it stands surpassed 2,000 according to Flightwave. If you are waiting for packages to be delivered to your door, you’ll need to be patient as UPS released a statement warning its customers that their packages might be delayed due to this outage. Though no major economic impact is expected, the US stock market opened lower this morning after tech stocks were impacted by this glitch.
Though a fix has been deployed as per the CEO CrowdStrike he referred customers to the support portal for the latest updates as the company will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on their website. They further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.
