Microsoft crash: banks, airports and airlines disrupted
Sky News' morning show failed to air on Friday and was replaced with archive footage. The website Downdetector reported a sharp increase in problems with websites including Microsoft apps, banking sites and airline apps.
Ryanair on its website warned passengers to arrive at airports three hours before departure due to a "third-party IT issue" affecting all airlines on the network.
Users around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, India and Japan, have reported problems, with the UK probably hit hardest during Friday morning rush hour.
Troy Hunt wrote on X that "something very strange" is happening as users around the world are experiencing a "blue screen of death" and going into recovery mode on Windows.
Something super weird happening right now: just been called by several totally different media outlets in the last few minutes, all with Windows machines suddenly BSoD’ing (Blue Screen of Death). Anyone else seen this? Seems to be entering recovery mode: pic.twitter.com/DxdLyA9BLA
— Troy Hunt (@troyhunt) July 19, 2024
Cybersecurity engineers have pointed out a problem with Crowdstrike, an antivirus software that seems to be causing computers to crash.
Senad Arun, founder of cybersecurity research firm Imperum, called the incident "the doomsday of Crowdstrike."
"Crowdstrike is aware of the failures on Windows related to Falcon Sensor," the company said on its website.
Britain's largest railway company warned passengers of possible disruption due to "global IT issues".
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) - parent company of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern - has issued a warning on the brands' social media channels.
"We are experiencing global IT issues which could lead to cancellations. Systems with customer information are also affected. We will provide updates at a later date. Please check your itinerary before travelling," the company said in a statement.
GTR carries more passengers and has more trains and staff than any other operator in the UK.
Adelaide airport #Crowdstrike https://t.co/Ljji9koGrN pic.twitter.com/S6cl7LKcqu
— ????Pablo’s????????Broke⚡️???????????????? ???? (@Pablos_Broke) July 19, 2024
Banks Australia also said the disruption was affecting online services and transactions.
"We are aware of a widespread and global systemic issue. We are investigating and are endeavouring to restore service as soon as possible," Bendigo and Adelaide Bank said in an alert.
Beyond Bank Australia reported problems with card and online accounts.
Manchester Airport clarified that the IT failure only affects Swissport, causing delays and increased congestion in check-in areas.
A Manchester Airport spokesperson assured that passengers do not need to change their plans, adding:
"Don't arrive at the airport early to avoid pandemonium," the airport warned.
Gatwick Express reported delays.
⚠️ We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network. Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem.We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations,…
— Gatwick Express (@GatwickExpress) July 19, 2024
Sydney Airport said the "global disruption" had affected airlines and services.
A global technical outage has impacted some airline operations and terminal services.Flights are currently arriving and departing however there may be some delays throughout the evening.We have activated our contingency plans and deployed additional staff to our terminals.…
— Sydney Airport (@SydneyAirport) July 19, 2024
Sydney Airport flight displays have all BSOD'd. #microsoft #crowdstrike pic.twitter.com/ZL9QwGdi1a
— techAU (@techAU) July 19, 2024