The issue can be traced to an update issued to Windows computers by security firm CrowdStrike, the company said in a blog post. The company said at 6 a.m. Friday that the issue had been identified and fixed, but by then the impact had spread worldwide.
The impact of the blackout is a reminder of how dependent the global economy is on electricity. on computer systems that are vulnerable to everything from sophisticated hacker attacks to botched software updates. But while the problem is widespread, there’s also an element of randomness at play, depending on which companies in a particular industry are taking advantage of the compromised systems.
CAUGHT
Stories to keep you informed
CrowdStrike chief executive George Kurtz said he was “deeply sorry” to anyone affected by the global outage during an appearance Friday on NBC’s “Today” show and vowed to “make sure every customer is fully restored.”
Many of CrowdStrike’s systems are in the recovery phase and will be operational soon, Kurtz said, but “it may take some time for some systems that cannot recover automatically.”
The company’s troubles come after a series of computer security incidents and service disruptions in recent years that have disrupted online services. Bruce Schneier, a security technologist who teaches at Harvard Kennedy School, said the latest problems show how fragile parts of the online world have become as companies chase efficiency at the expense of resilience.
“This is one of hundreds of companies you’ve never heard of that is critical to the functioning of the internet,” Schneier said, comparing the situation to a house built in such a way that nailing a picture to the wall could put it at risk of collapsing.
CrowdStrike’s software is widely used around the world by businesses looking to protect themselves from hackers. Friday’s issue affected only computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system, CrowdStrike said, while Apple computers and those running Linux were not affected.
While Windows is the operating system for hundreds of millions of personal PCs, it also runs on computers behind the scenes that are vital to the operation of airlines, digital payment systems, emergency call centers and other organizations.
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a post on X that his company is working with CrowdStrike and Windows users “to provide guidance and technical support to customers to get their systems safely back online.”
CrowdStrike said in a blog post that the corrupted files involved in the broader outage had a timestamp equivalent to 12:09 a.m. Eastern time on Friday. An unrelated Microsoft outage on Thursday also caused problems.
Some of the most visible early impacts of the disruption have been on airlines. U.S. budget carriers Frontier and Sun Country said early Friday they were experiencing disruptions, and the problems have spread to major airlines and affected foreign carriers.
As of 2:30 p.m., more than 3,800 flights had been canceled worldwide. More than 2,400 of those were flights operating into, within or out of the United States, according to FlightAware.com, an online flight tracking website. More than 34,000 flights were delayed worldwide, with delays affecting more than 7,000 flights originating or terminating in the United States.
United Airlines said the outage affected several key systems: those used to check in customers, calculate the weight of planes and operate call centers.
In the United States alone, the impact was similar to what might happen during a major snowstorm. And even when airlines reported returning to service Friday morning, the problems in the flight system could take hours to fully resolve because crews and planes were left in the wrong cities.
John Cox and his wife spent more than a day at Reagan National Airport as they tried to get a flight home to North Carolina.
Technical issues Thursday night prompted major airlines including Delta to suspend service and reroute passengers. Then its 10:17 a.m. Friday flight to Charlotte was pushed back to Saturday afternoon. “It really threw our plans out of whack,” said Cox, slumped in a chair near the airport entrance.
“We’re going to spend more money hanging around in D.C. than we would have if we were back home,” Cox said, before leaning back in his chair and sighing. “There has to be some compensation for the incredible inconvenience that so many people are going through.”
By Friday morning it became clear that the impact had reached a wide range of industries and affected government agencies.
The impact on health care providers extends from the United States to Israel, where doctors lost access to electronic medical records and some hospitals postponed elective procedures.
Mass General Brigham, a nonprofit that runs one of Massachusetts’ largest hospital systems, said on its website that it was canceling all “non-urgent visits” at its hospitals and clinics on Friday. The organization said its emergency departments remain open and providing care for urgent appointments and procedures.
Even in a sector that has taken a major hit this year — most notably the hacks of claims processor Change Healthcare and health system Ascension — experts were surprised by the scale of the impact Friday.
“I was surprised to see a ripple effect like this,” said Chris Cummiskey, a cybersecurity expert and former Department of Homeland Security official. While CrowdStrike is often held up as the gold standard in cyber protection, he said this incident may warrant a review of their internal practices.
“You don’t want to push a button and have a global meltdown like this,” Cummiskey said.
Television news stations in several countries were unable to broadcast. In Australia, a power outage prevented ABC News from delivering its usual breaking news. Instead, ABC News aired a special report on the disruption at Sydney airport.
Several emergency services also reported problems. Alaska State Police reported that, as of 9 p.m. local time Thursday, 911 call centers across the state were not functioning properly. Service was restored around 4 a.m. Friday when dispatch centers switched to analog phone systems or partnered with unaffected dispatch centers, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
Federal officials scrambled to assess the situation and provide assistance. Anne Neuberger, a security and technology adviser to President Biden, said her day began with a 4 a.m. call with the White House situation room as the government worked to determine the impact on its own systems and key parts of the economy.
“This highlights the extent to which our economy and national security are now digital and fundamentally interconnected,” Neuberger said, speaking on a panel at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
A White House official said Biden himself had been briefed on the outage and that the administration was in communication with CrowdStrike and affected entities. The White House would be getting “sector-by-sector updates throughout the day and stands ready to provide assistance as needed,” the official added.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview on CNBC Friday that he expects airlines, ports and trucking companies to be largely back in business by Friday. But he said the incident should prompt some to reflect on the country’s vulnerability to even seemingly minor technical glitches.
“We’re certainly in a new era in terms of this risk,” Buttigieg said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of post-action assessments, once things calm down and things get back to normal.”
Hannah Ziegler, Jeff Stein, Aaron Gregg, Adela Suliman and Julian Mark contributed to this report.
