From Airlines To Stock Exchange: Know How A Microsoft Tech Snag Hits Services Globally

Bhubaneswar: Several IT systems across the world were affected due to a major cyber outage on Friday.

IT systems across the world, including India, Australia, Germany, the United States, the UK, and other countries were affected, disrupting several critical services. The outage disrupted airlines, health systems, banks, telecommunication and emergency services, an India Today report claimed.

The outage may have been caused by the failure of CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity platform that provides security solutions to Microsoft Windows. An official Microsoft 365 service update on X earlier in the day cited: “We’re investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”

Here’s what all got affected across the world:
1) Australia: Banks, telecoms, media outlets and airlines were affected. Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator reportedly mentioned that large-scale technical outage were affecting a number of companies and services across the country around afternoon.
2) US: In the United States, emergency 911 services were disrupted in many parts of the country. Non-emergency call centres were also not working.
3) UK: Britain’s Sky News were reportedly unable to broadcast. “Sky News have not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, currently telling viewers that we apologise for the interruption,” the broadcaster’s executive chairman, David Rhodes, wrote on X. Not just that, a health booking system, used by the doctors, went offline in England.
4) Major airlines disruptions in India: In India, widespread flight delays were witnessed across airports. The outage affected booking and check-in services of several airlines, including IndiGo, Akasa Airlines and SpiceJet. “We’re currently facing a technical issue in providing updates on flight disruptions. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue. We regret any inconvenience caused and will update you once the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience and cooperation,” Spicejet wrote on X.
“Digital infrastructure issues have temporarily impacted online and airport operations across multiple airlines and airports globally. Please plan your travel and keep sufficient time in hand for airport procedures. We regret the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding during this time,” Air India Express wrote on X.
“Currently we are following manual check-in and boarding processes at the airports and hence request passengers with immediate travel plans to reach the airport early to check-in at our counters,” the Akasa Airlines wrote X. Similarly, Indigo also mentioned its systems “across the network” were impacted by the issue with Microsoft Azure, “which has resulted in increased wait times at our contact centres and airports”.
5) Global airlines: At Berlin airport, all flights were halted until 1.30 pm (Indian Time) due to a technical fault, reports claimed. Key US airlines like American Airlines, Delta and United, reportedly grounded all flights. Authorities in Spain mentioned that they were encountering a “computer incident” at all its airports, reports stated. Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, cautioned passengers of potential disruptions. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, was also affected. Passengers at Britain’s Edinburgh Airport were unable to use automated boarding pass scanners, and monitors at security. Turkish Airlines was also experiencing problems.
6) Stock exchange affected: London Stock Exchange was disrupted, reports claimed. Several brokerage firms also faced technical issues, including Nuvama, Edelweiss, and Motilal Oswal. In India, traders claimed they faced disruptions in their operations.