Companies are scrambling to bounce back one day after a global IT disruption disrupted major industries around the world, including airports, businesses and broadcasting.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said a sensor configuration update on its Falcon platform released Friday “triggered a logic error” that caused “system crashes and blue screen of death (BSOD) on affected systems.” The issue was quickly resolved, the company said.
But what followed was a massive IT outage for airlines, medical facilities, businesses and police forces around the world, with Microsoft computers displaying the “Blue Screen of Death.”
On Saturday morning, David Weston, Microsoft’s VP of Enterprise Security and OS, said on Microsoft’s official blog that 8.5 million Microsoft devices were impacted by the outage, which is less than one percent of all Windows machines.
“While the percentage is small, the broad economic and social impact reflects the use of CrowdStrike by companies running many critical services,” Weston said.
Major U.S. airlines have grounded flights, leading to global flight delays. As of Saturday afternoon, more than 1,600 flights to, from and within the U.S. had been canceled, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. That was up from more than 2,500 flights canceled Saturday morning.
There were long lines of exhausted passengers at airports around the world, including in Atlanta, Salt Lake City and Bali. Some people took photos of the blue screens still appearing on some airport TV screens on Saturday and posted them to social media. One passenger posted a photo of passengers sleeping in a waiting area Saturday morning at the Atlanta airport.
In Alaska, police said 911 service was down across the state, but later said it was working normally. New Hampshire and Plano, Texas, were also among the states and communities that reported problems with 911 because of the outage, but later said service was working normally.
Medical facilities were also affected by the outages, including 51 hospitals under Providence Southern California in the western state, according to the health care organization.
Several major hospitals in the U.S. have been forced to cancel surgeries and doctors’ appointments. The daughter of a 73-year-old man scheduled for open-heart surgery Friday at Baptist Health in Paducah, Kentucky, said the procedure to clear eight blockages and repair an aneurysm was canceled because of the global technology outage.
Courts in Massachusetts and New York also experienced operational disruptions due to power outages on Friday, according to The Associated Press.
The issue also affected banks, leaving some customers unable to access their money. People across Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere reported problems logging into their accounts at major retail banks. Meanwhile, the London Stock Exchange, Europe’s largest, said some of its services were disrupted, though trading was not disrupted.
Starbucks, which had been having problems with its mobile order and pay-ahead features, said it was back up and running Saturday morning.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., asked the Defense Department’s acting chief information officer to provide a briefing on IT issues by July 26.
A Department of Defense spokesperson said it was aware of the issue and that personnel were monitoring their networks for possible impact.
“For operational security reasons, we do not comment on the operational status of our networks, information systems, or operations to assess cyber threats,” the statement said.
