Businesses are trying to recover after a global IT outage disrupted major industries around the world, including airports, businesses and broadcasters.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said a sensor configuration update for its Falcon platform released on Friday “caused a logic error” that caused affected systems to “crash and experience a blue screen of death (BSOD).” The company said the issue was resolved shortly thereafter.
But then airlines, medical facilities, businesses and police forces around the world experienced widespread information technology outages, and Microsoft computers displayed the “Blue Screen of Death.”
On Saturday morning, David Weston, Microsoft’s vice president of enterprise and OS security, said on the official Microsoft blog that the outage affected 8.5 million Microsoft devices, which represents less than 1% of all Windows machines.
“While this represents a small percentage, the fact that CrowdStrike is used by companies that run many essential services reflects its widespread economic and societal impact,” Weston said.
Major U.S. airlines grounded flights and caused delays around the world. More than 980 flights to, from and within the U.S. were canceled as of Sunday morning, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. That’s an improvement from the more than 2,500 flights that were canceled Saturday morning.
Long lines of exhausted travelers formed at airports around the world, from Atlanta to Salt Lake City to Bali. Some people took photos of the dreaded blue screen that was still visible on TV screens at some airports on Saturday and posted them to social media. One passenger also posted a photo of a traveler asleep in a concourse at Atlanta’s airport early Saturday morning.
In Alaska, state police announced a statewide 911 outage but later said it was working normally. New Hampshire and Plano, Texas, were among the states and municipalities that reported 911 issues due to outages but later said it was working normally.
Healthcare facilities were also affected by the outages, including 51 hospitals in western states managed by Providence Southern California, health groups said.
Several major U.S. hospitals have been forced to cancel surgeries and doctor’s appointments. The daughter of a 73-year-old man scheduled to undergo open-heart surgery on Friday at Baptist Health Hospital in Paducah, Kentucky, said the procedure to remove eight blockages and repair an aneurysm was canceled because of a global technical glitch.
Courts in Massachusetts and New York also were disrupted by power outages on Friday, according to the Associated Press.
The problem also affected banks, with some customers unable to access their savings. People in Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere reported being unable to log into their accounts at major retail banks, while the London Stock Exchange, Europe’s largest stock exchange, said it was able to continue trading but had some service disruptions.
Starbucks, which experienced issues with its mobile order-ahead and pay-for-play features, said the functionality had been restored on Saturday morning.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) has asked the Defense Department’s acting chief information officer for a briefing on IT issues by July 26.
A Pentagon spokesman said the department was aware of the issue and that personnel were monitoring networks for any possible impacts.
“For operational security reasons, we do not comment on the status of our network operations, information systems or operations to assess cyber threats,” the statement read.
TJ Swigert and Cristian Santana contributed.
