A botched technology update grounded flights around the world, took banks offline and forced media outlets off air early Friday, with the unprecedented, widespread internet outage also stranding travelers at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports.
The global crisis was triggered by US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike deploying a flawed software update overnight to computers running Microsoft Windows.
Microsoft said the root cause of the global outage had been resolved as of early Friday morning, but the effects of the cybersecurity incident continue to affect some Office 365 apps and services.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz previously emphasized that the company is “actively working with customers affected by the flaw found in the single content update for Windows hosts” and that a fix is on the way.
“This is not a security incident or cyber attack,” Kurtz said in X’s statement.
But hours after the problem was first discovered, the confusion continued to grow and ripple further.
At LaGuardia Airport, 30 flights were canceled and 10 were delayed, while at JFK airport, 16 flights were canceled, causing lengthy delays for travelers.
Long lines formed at airports in New York and across the country after airlines suspended check-in and reservation services at the height of the summer travel season.
The MTA has informed New York passengers that a technical outage has taken its customer information system “temporarily offline,” but that trains and buses are continuing to run.
LIRR service was not affected, but the disruption caused arrival information, station announcements and platform signs to be taken offline.
“This is the first time we’ve seen something like this happen on this scale in recent memory,” New York City’s chief technology officer, Matthew C. Fraser, told NBC News.
He added that the amendments meant “the bleeding has stopped.”
“New York City is taking a lot of precautions with regards to technology adoption,” Fraser said.
“We’re fortunate that our most critical systems — 911, 311, traffic management systems, water management systems — are located in areas that are not affected by these things,” he continued.
“So, at this point, our most critical systems are up and running.”
The effects of the blackout and the ensuing chaos were widespread.
Major U.S. airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines grounded flights early on Friday, while delays and disruptions were reported at other airlines and airports around the world.
Communications were severely affected and Australian news organisations were taken off the air for several hours.
Hospitals and clinics in the UK had problems with their booking systems, several hospitals in northern Germany cancelled all elective surgeries scheduled for Friday, and Israel said it had disrupted operations at hospitals and post offices.
Banks and financial services companies from New Zealand to India to Germany also warned customers of disruptions, reporting outages on payment systems, websites and apps.
Some athletes and spectators arriving in Paris ahead of the Olympics were also delayed, but organisers insisted the disruptions were limited and ticket sales and the torch relay would not be affected.
With post wire
