Global IT outage causes chaos, disrupting airlines, banks, media, telecoms

Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator says ‘no information to suggest it is a cyber security incident’.

A massive technology outage has disrupted businesses and institutions in multiple countries, throwing airlines, government services, banks, supermarkets, telecoms and media outlets into chaos.

The cause of the outage was not immediately clear, but it came hours after Microsoft said it was addressing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.

The disruption was attributed to CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm whose software is used by industries around the world to protect against hackers and outside breaches.

The problem appeared to result in crashes of machines running Microsoft Windows operating system. Crowdstrike said in a recorded phone message that it was aware of reports of Microsoft’s Windows operating system crashing.

In the United States, major airlines Delta, United and American Airlines were grounded on Friday morning due to a communication issue, according to an update by the Federal Aviation Administration.

In Australia, flight information screens at Sydney airport went blank and self-service checkouts at supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles showed error messages.

Sydney airport said that flights were arriving and departing but that travellers should expect delays.

“We have activated our contingency plans and deployed additional staff to our terminals,” it said in a post on X.

Melbourne airport said that check-in procedures for some airlines had been affected.

“Passengers flying with these airlines this afternoon are advised to allow a little extra time to check-in. Please check with your airline for flight updates,” it said in a post on X.

Airports in the United Kingdom, Germany, Malaysia and the Philippines also reported disruptions to services.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, was also hit, with a spokesperson saying: “The outage has an impact on flights flying from and to Schiphol,” adding that it was not yet clear how many flights were affected.

All airports in Spain were experiencing “disruptions”, the airport operator Aena said.

“Because of an IT system incident, disruptions are occuring in Aena’s systems and at airport networks in Spain that could cause delays,” the operator said on X.

Air France said its operations were also affected, but that flights already en route were not affected.

Hong Kong Airport Authority said airlines affected by the outage have switched to manual check-in and flight operations have not been affected.

Australia’s national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Network Ten also confirmed that their systems had been affected. Sky News in the UK said the glitch had ended its morning news broadcasts.

Bendigo Bank said “online banking and some transactions” were being affected.

Australia’s National Cyber Security Coordinator said on Friday that it was aware of a “large-scale technical outage” affecting numerous business and services across the country.

“Our current information is this outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies,” the agency said in a statement.

“There is no information to suggest it is a cyber security incident. We continue to engage across key stakeholders.”