Global Microsoft outage hits banks, airlines and broadcasters
Companies worldwide are experiencing massive IT disruption on Friday as a result of issues with technology giant Microsoft’s cloud services.
A number of airlines have grounded flights or warned passengers to expect severe delays, and there have been service disruptions at emergency services, media companies, supermarkets and banks.
“A configuration change in a portion of our Azure backend workloads caused interruption between storage and compute resources which resulted in connectivity failures that affected downstream Microsoft 365 services dependent on these connections,” Microsoft said in an update.
A security update by CrowdStrike has left Windows computers particularly affected, leaving them with blue screens that prevent them from starting up.
In Belgium, train operator SNCB is experiencing problems, preventing passengers from buying tickets online. Data relating to delays and platform changes may also not be updated, so people are advised to rely on screens and announcements in stations.
United, Delta and American Airlines are grounding aircraft, while in Europe, Berlin and Schiphol airports have reported problems. In Australia, the systems of banks and broadcaster ABC are down, and in the UK, Sky News and the London Stock Exchange are affected.
"Because some airports are also affected by the IT problems, there may be disruption on some specific flights"
The impact at Brussels Airport was relatively limited on Friday morning, a spokesperson said. “Our check-in system runs on Microsoft, but we have a fallback system,” they said. “As a result, some longer waiting times are possible here and there.”
Brussels Airlines warns on its website that users of the website or app may encounter difficulties accessing their profile or booking, but flights are not expected to be affected.
A spokesperson said confirmed that all operational systems were working. "Check-in and boarding of our flights is proceeding normally," he said. "However, because some airports are also affected by the IT problems, there may be disruption on some specific flights."
'No impact on care'
Two hospitals in Belgium have been affected, the Federal Public Service Public Health confirmed to Belga. For now, the department is not communicating which hospitals are affected.
"There are two hospitals that have reported problems. But all hospitals have an ICT emergency plan," a spokesperson said. "This is now also being used in the affected hospitals. There is no impact on care. Only a decision has been made to temporarily transport new patients who need urgent medical attention to other hospitals."
Reuters also reports that the Paris Olympics' organising committee's operations had been impacted, just a week before the Games begin. "We have activated contingency plans in order to continue operations," the committee said in a statement. It did not immediately provide details.
Microsoft presents its technologies at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China, 7 July 2024 © PHOTO CFOTO/SIPA USA
Related news
