What we know about the global IT outage

A massive IT outage has caused chaos around the world, with major banks, media outlets and airlines falling victim.

Many flights were cancelled, airports faced queues and delays, while shops and communications services were also affected.

The cause is still unknown, but Microsoft said it is taking “mitigation actions” to address the “lingering impact” of the outage.

The Australian Department of Home Affairs and American Airlines both said the outage appeared to be linked to an issue at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.

Here’s a summary of what we know so far.

It is still unclear exactly what happened.

However, a spokesman for Australia’s Home Affairs Minister said the outage appeared to be linked to an incident at the global cybersecurity company. Mob attack.

Australia’s National Cyber ​​Security Coordinator described it as a “widespread technical incident” and said there was no information to suggest it was an attack.

American AirlinesThe world’s largest airline by passenger numbers, told the BBC that the IT outage was due to a “Crowdstrike technical issue affecting multiple carriers”.

United Airlines “A third-party software issue is affecting computer systems around the world, including at United,” he told the BBC.

It has been reported that Crowdstrike, a company that makes anti-virus software, released a software update that caused Windows devices to crash.

Crowdstrike shares fell as much as 21% in premarket trading. Microsoft also fell, as did travel and leisure stocks, as investors weighed potential disruptions to travelers.

The BBC has contacted Crowdstrike for comment but has yet to receive a response.

It’s a reminder of the complexity of modern digital infrastructure that Crowdstrike, a little-known company, can be at the center of global chaos.

The Austin, Texas-based American company is a publicly traded company listed on both the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq high-tech index.

Like many modern tech companies, this one hasn’t been around for long. It was founded just 13 years ago, but has grown to employ nearly 8,500 people.

As a cybersecurity service provider, the company is often called upon to deal with the aftermath of hacking attacks.

It has been involved in investigations into a number of high-profile cyber attacks, such as when Sony Pictures computer system hacked in 2014.

But this time, reportedly due to a faulty software update, a company that was part of the solution to the IT issues may have played a role in the source of the problem.

In its most recent earnings report, Crowdstrike disclosed a total of nearly 24,000 customers, which is not only an indication of the scale of the reported problem, but also the difficulty it can have in fixing it.

Each of these customers is a very large organization so it is difficult to estimate the number of computers affected.

And according to those in the know, the fix will likely have to be applied individually to each affected device — causing a major headache for IT departments everywhere.

The problem appeared piecemeal, with the first reports coming in Australia.

The payment system has been down at stores in Australia including Woolworthswhile financial institutions such as National Australia Bank also affected.

Then the problems spread to WE. Status of Alaska warned that its emergency services had been affected, while some of the country’s airlines – Unify, Delta And American Airlines – cancel flights globally.

Australian carriers Virgin Australia And Jet plane Flights were also delayed or cancelled as departure screens at Sydney airport went black.

Tokyo-Narita And Delhi Airports say services have been affected. European airports report that the power outage is causing delays, with long queues reported in London Stansted And Gatwick Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

Ryanair said it was experiencing “potential network-wide disruption,” which it said was caused by a third-party outage.

Television stations were also caught up in the chaos, including Sky News in the UK, currently off the air.

As the extent of the disruption became clear, more companies and organizations began reporting incidents.

The London Stock Exchange said it was operating normally, but there were problems with its news service, which companies use to report market-sensitive information in a timely manner.

Israeli say 15 hospital has switched to manual procedures but this has not affected medical treatment. Ambulances are required to take new cases to other hospitals.

And Poland’s largest container terminal, Baltic Center north of the city Gdańsksaid the power outage was “impeding port operations” and asked companies not to send containers to the port.

In the UK, rail companies have reported delays and said they are experiencing “widespread IT issues”, while some UK doctors’ surgeries have reported problems booking appointments.

Problems have spread to upmarket UK bakery chain by Gailsaid they are currently unable to accept in-store payments.