Flights canceled, banks and businesses come to a standstill after major IT disruptions to Microsoft services
KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 – Microsoft systems worldwide have been affected by an IT services outage linked to cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.
A likely cause of the Microsoft outage is said to be the recent update to Crowdstrike’s Falcon sensor.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) CrowdStrike has stated that it is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon sensor.
Airports in both the USA and Australia were affected. The US aviation authority FAA asked Frontier Airlines, which was particularly badly affected by the outage, to stop its departures.
At the time of going to press, the ban had been lifted.
Users also flooded the website Downdetector.com, which tracks service outages, to report problems with various Microsoft 365 apps and services.
The power outage also affected telecommunications networks, banks and supermarkets and even led to the collapse of the police system in New South Wales.
Australia’s National Cybersecurity Coordinator Michelle McGuinness said current information indicates the outage was due to a “technical issue” and there was no reason to believe it was a cybersecurity incident.
On X (formerly Twitter), Microsoft said today: “We are investigating an issue that is impacting users’ access to various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”
