Airlines, other transport operators, businesses and governments were rushing Saturday to get all their computer systems back online after extended disruptions caused by a widespread technology outage that affected people around the world.
The biggest ongoing impact from the technology outage is on air travel: Airlines canceled thousands of flights on Friday and many planes and crew are now in the wrong place, while airports continued to face check-in and security issues on Saturday.
At the center of the massive outage is CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company that provides software to many companies around the world. The company said the problem was caused by a flawed update applied to computers running Microsoft Windows, and that the outage was not caused by a security incident or cyberattack.
Germany’s IT security agency said many companies were still struggling with the effects of the widespread technology outage. Many of the affected areas have returned to normal, but it warned that cybercriminals are trying to take advantage of the situation through phishing, fake websites and other fraudulent activities, and that “unofficial” software code is in the market.
The agency said it was unclear how the flawed code got into the CrowdStrike software update that allegedly caused the outage.
Hundreds of flights canceled in Newark
The technical outage significantly affected flights departing from many major airports, including Newark Liberty International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, according to data from FlightAware, a website that tracks airline delays and cancellations.
FlightAware reported numerous flights were canceled in the past 24 hours (late Friday morning to late Saturday morning), including:
- Newark254 flights canceled, 32 of which are canceled today
- LaGuardia237 flights canceled, 46 of which are canceled today
- John F. Kennedy: 132 flights canceled, 32 of which are canceled today
- Philadelphia: 93 flights canceled, 8 of which are canceled today
Overall, FlightAware reported 1,668 flight cancellations and 3,015 delays across the U.S. as of early Saturday afternoon.
European airports are almost back to normal
Heathrow airport, Europe’s busiest, said it was busy but operating normally on Saturday. “All systems have been restored and passengers can continue their journey smoothly,” the airport said in a statement.
Some 167 flights due to depart from UK airports on Friday were cancelled, along with 171 flights due to travel via land routes.
Meanwhile, flights at Berlin airport departed on or near schedule, German news agency DPA reported, citing an airport spokesman, with 19 flights taking off in the early hours of Saturday after authorities exempted the airport from the usual night-time flight ban.
An IT glitch caused 150 of the airport’s 552 scheduled flights in and out of the country to be cancelled on Friday, disrupting the plans of thousands of passengers at the start of the German capital’s summer holiday season.
Britain’s travel and transport industry is struggling to get back on schedule following the global security shutdown, with many school pupils facing flight cancellations and delays just as the country marks the first day of their summer holidays.
Gatwick Airport said the “vast majority” of scheduled flights were due to take off, while Manchester Airport said passengers were being checked in manually and flights could be cancelled at the last minute.
The Port of Dover said it was seeing an influx of evacuated air passengers, with people facing wait times of up to an hour just to enter the port to board a ferry to France.
Meanwhile, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre warned individuals and businesses to be vigilant as “malicious actors” may exploit the outage to launch phishing attacks.
Ciarán Martin, former director of the National Cyber Security Centre, said the worst of the crisis was over. “The nature of the crisis meant that things escalated quickly. It was quickly discovered and effectively stopped.”
He told Sky News that while some businesses would be able to return to normal quickly, other sectors such as aviation would take longer.
“When you’re in aviation, you’ve got people, planes, staff all stranded in the wrong place. So it’s going to take days. I’d be surprised if it takes weeks.”
NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Len Melisago contributed to this report.
