A global IT outage is taking services across the world offline, from trains, airlines and airports, to TV and radio stations, to banks and stock exchanges.
The first reports of issues came from Australia early today, with people saying they cannot access workstations. The wave of reports quickly spread around the world, with businesses from Japan to the US and from the UK to Australia being taken offline.
“There have been reports suggesting that a cybersecurity company called Crowdstrike, which produces antivirus software, issued a software update that has gone horribly wrong and is bricking Windows devices – prompting the so-called ‘blue screen of death’ on PCs”, BBC technology editor Zoe Kleinman reported earlier today.
1. Air travel
US airlines, including United, Delta and American, have issued a global ground stop. Aircraft already in the air can continue their journey until their destinations, but no take offs are allowed until the crisis is solved. Virgin Australia had a brief total ground stop in the morning as well, but has reportedly restarted boarding flights.
Other airlines are trying to continue operations, although they advise passengers to arrive at the airport earlier to allow enough time for the check-in process. Since ticket scanners are also down, boarding passes have to be checked manually at all airport control points. “We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a Global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control. We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time”, Ryanair said.
Berlin airport posted on X that it experiences delays at check-in due to a “technical fault”, while the Spanish airport operator has said that they “are working to solve it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, operations are continuing with manual systems.” Sidney, Melbourne, New Zealand’s Christchurch, London Stansted, Edinburgh, Amsterdam Schiphol, Japan’s Narita and India’s Delhi airports are just a few of those affected. The exact extent of the impact is yet unknown.
2. Train travel
In the UK, all four of Govia Thameslink Railway’s brands – Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern, are experiencing “widespread IT issues across our entire network”.
“We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks. Additionally, other key systems, including our real-time customer information platforms, are also affected”, the operator said in a statement.
3. Telecommunications
TV stations around the world are also being affected. Sky News has been unable to go live since this morning. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the BBC’s channel for children and teenagers is also down, displaying a message that recommends viewers turn to BBC’s online iPlayer in the meantime, which is still functioning.
However, not all stations are affected. The UK’s ITV, Channel 4 and other BBC stations remain able to broadcast.
4. Hospitals, stock exchanges and other services
All businesses relying on Microsoft services are experiencing issues. “I am aware of a large-scale technical outage affecting a number of companies and services across Australia this afternoon”, said Australia’s national cyber security coordinator, Lt Gen Michelle McGuinness. “Our current information is this outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies.”
Hospitals in Germany have cancelled non-emergency surgeries as they are unable to access patient files online. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) is also down, with general practitioners and clinics not being able to access patient record or book appointments. “We can see acutely unwell [patients] and handwrite notes/scripts, but for anything else we are asking to call back”, one GP told the BBC.
Banks are also unable to access files and home banking apps have stopped working. Moreover, at opening on Friday morning, the London Stock Exchange, one of the busiest in the world, was displaying Thursday’s closing prices. The Financial Times Stock Exchange and others across Europe also opened between 0.4% and 0.7% down.
