A faulty software update wreaked technological havoc around the world Friday, grounding flights, bringing down some financial firms and news outlets, and disrupting hospitals, small businesses and government offices.
The scale of the outages has highlighted the fragility of a digitalized world that depends on just a few vendors for essential IT services.
The issue was caused by an update released by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and only affected its customers using Microsoft Windows, the world’s most popular operating system for personal computers. It was not the result of a hack or cyberattack, according to CrowdStrike, which apologized and said a patch was being released.
Businesses and governments around the world have suffered hours-long outages, their computer screens lighting up blue with error messages, and have struggled to manage the aftermath of the disruptions. CrowdStrike’s CEO says some of their systems will require manual repairs.
Thousands of flights have been canceled and tens of thousands more delayed, causing long lines at airports in the United States, Europe and Asia. Airlines have lost access to their check-in and reservation services in the middle of the summer season.
Several local television stations in the United States were not allowed to broadcast news early Friday, and some state and local governments reported problems at courts, motor vehicle departments, unemployment agencies, emergency call centers and other offices.
Affected hospitals have encountered problems with their appointment booking systems, forcing them to suspend patient visits and cancel some operations.
Alison Baulos said her 73-year-old father’s heart surgery in Paducah, Kentucky, was canceled Friday morning because of the technical failure, leaving her family scared and worried.
“It really makes us realize how reliant we are on technology and how scary it is,” Baulos said in an interview. She said her father was waiting at Baptist Hospital to find out what would happen next. A phone message left at the hospital was not immediately returned.
American Express said it was temporarily experiencing difficulties processing transactions, while TD Bank responded to online complaints by saying it was working to “restore” customers’ ability to access their accounts.
Elsewhere, people encountered minor inconveniences, including difficulties ordering in advance at Starbucks, which led to long lines at some of the coffee chain’s stores.
In New York’s Times Square, shortly before midnight, the blue “recovery” screens that had been displayed on laptops appeared on several giant electronic billboards. Some were dark Friday afternoon.
A worrying reminder of vulnerability
Cybersecurity expert James Bore said the damage would be significant. “All of these systems are using the same software,” he said. “We’ve made these tools so widespread that when things go wrong — and they will go wrong, as we’ve seen — they’ll go wrong on a massive scale.”
“We can’t expect a solution very quickly,” said Claudia Plattner, head of the German IT security agency. It is difficult to predict when exactly all systems will be operational, but “it won’t take hours,” she added.
CrowdStrike said in a recording on its customer service line that the problem was related to the “Falcon sensor,” a reference to one of its products used to block online attacks. The company says it has 29,000 customers.
In an interview with NBC’s “Today Show,” CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized, saying the company was “deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our businesses.”
“We know what the problem is” and are working to fix it, Kurtz said. He noted, however, that it could take “some time” for customers who need a manual solution, which could be burdensome for businesses and governments that don’t have the right in-house expertise.
Shares of the Austin, Texas-based company fell nearly 10% on Friday. Microsoft’s stock price fell more than 3%.
Although the impact of the outage could be felt far and wide, forecasting firm Capital Economics said it was likely to have little impact on the global economy.
Cybersecurity experts also said those affected by the outage should be wary of malicious actors claiming to be able to help them. “Attackers are definitely going to go after organizations because of this situation,” said Eric Grenier, an analyst at Gartner.
Air travel delayed everywhere
By midday, more than 2,200 U.S. flights had been canceled on the East Coast and more than 6,000 delayed, according to tracking platform FlightAware. Worldwide, more than 3,500 flights have been canceled. Those numbers are expected to rise throughout the day.
Earlier Friday, travelers arriving at Chicago Midway Airport for Delta flights Friday morning learned of the outage because the airline’s communications systems were down. Delta told NBC Chicago it had no way to reroute passengers to their destinations, leaving customers to either return home or find flights on other carriers. Currently, Southwest Airlines and Frontier appear to be operating normally.
Hordes of travelers gathered at Philadelphia International Airport, where NBC Philadelphia reports that “there are no flights in or out of Philadelphia.”
Most airlines blamed the problems on their reservation systems. Thousands of flights were affected in the United States alone, though late in the morning, East Coast airlines said they were beginning to mitigate the problems and resume some service.
At Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Sarah Schafer was delayed on her way to her cousin’s 50th birthday party in Florida. She waited nearly three hours, not knowing when her flight would be rescheduled.
“I seem calm,” said Schafer, who used a cane because of an ankle injury. “But my angry side could come out.”
British airlines and rail companies have experienced long waiting times. And airports across Europe have suspended landings or halted takeoffs for several hours due to difficulties checking in passengers.
Saskia Oettinghaus, a member of the German Olympic diving team, was among those stranded at Berlin airport.
“We’re on our way to Paris for the Olympics and now we’re stuck here for the moment,” Oettinghaus said.
Other athletes and spectators travelling to Paris have been delayed, as have their uniforms and accreditations, but Games organisers have said the disruptions were limited and did not affect ticketing or the torch relay.
In Cancun, the main tourist destination on the Caribbean coast, the state government announced 24 cancellations and 100 flight delays. Some travelers tried to brighten up the long wait by singing the traditional Mexican song “Cielito Lindo,” while a band, also stranded, played at the Cancun airport.
How are trains and subways affected by the global IT outage?
In Washington, D.C., the outage knocked Metro’s website offline. The agency said trains are running on time, but riders are unable to use its train tracking, bus tracking and “Plan My Trip” services because of the website outage, NBC Washington reported.
Amtrak said trains were also running on time, but arrival and departure display boards on platforms were down. In New York, Long Island Rail Road said its train service was unaffected, but platform signage was temporarily out of service.
In the UK, rail operators TransPennine Express and Govia Thameslink Railway are among the companies affected.
What other sectors are affected by the global IT outage?
In Virginia, the Fairfax Police Department said it was experiencing technical difficulties with its phone systems, including 911, NBC Washington reported. The department shared a non-emergency number for callers and said 911 could still be used, but calls would not be routed directly to the dispatch center. In Iowa, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office warned on social media that phone lines were down and 911 calls could be routed to neighboring counties, but emergency calls would be quickly redirected to the sheriff’s office.
In New England, the outage led some hospitals to cancel appointments, NBC Boston reports.
A spokesperson for Mass General Brigham, Massachusetts’ largest health system, said the outage resulted in the cancellation of all non-urgent surgeries, procedures and medical visits scheduled for Friday. Emergency departments remain open and patient care at the hospital has not been affected.
In Australia, national news channels, including the public broadcaster ABC and Sky News Australia, were unable to broadcast their programmes on their television and radio stations for hours. Some presenters were able to broadcast their programmes online from darkened offices, in front of computers displaying blue error screens. Internet and telephone service providers were also affected.
In the United States, KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, aired Scripps News instead of local news until about 5:35 a.m., the station said on its website. IT teams and engineers worked through the night to fix the problem, the station said. Other local stations owned by Scripps reported similar problems, though Scripps spokesman Michael Perry said in an email early Friday that 90 percent of stations were able to broadcast local news.
Hospitals in different countries have also reported problems.
The UK’s National Health Service said the outage had caused problems at most GP surgeries as appointment booking and patient records systems were affected.
At Mass General Brigham, the largest health system in Massachusetts, all scheduled surgeries, procedures and non-urgent medical visits were canceled Friday due to the outage, according to a spokesperson.
Some international shipments have also been disrupted.
A major container hub in the Baltic port of Gdansk, Poland, said it was experiencing problems. And at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, marine terminals were affected, although the outage did not cause significant disruption.
