A massive IT outage is causing disruptions across the world, impacting flights, banks and other major institutions.
In an update just after 10:30 a.m. Friday, Microsoft 365 said more services are starting to return to normal.
"We've completed our mitigation actions and our telemetry indicates all previously impacted Microsoft 365 apps and services have recovered," the company said on X. "We're entering a period of monitoring to ensure impact is fully resolved."
We've completed our mitigation actions and our telemetry indicates all previously impacted Microsoft 365 apps and services have recovered. We're entering a period of monitoring to ensure impact is fully resolved. For more information, see MO821132 within the admin center.
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 19, 2024
The outage was linked to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The company's CEO said the outage was not due to a security incident.
"CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack," CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said. "The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed... Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers."
Kurtz added on social media that "Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected."
"We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on," Kurtz posted on X. "As noted earlier, the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed."
Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected.
— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024
We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption. We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can…
Alan Crowetz, a cybersecurity expert with InfoStream, told WPTV journalist Briana Nespral he's never seen an outage of this magnitude.
"This is huge and we lucked out," Crowetz said. "If this required wiping and reloading computers, reinstalling all the software could take hours per computer, instead of five minutes per computer. This would be unrecoverable."
As for how a single content update could have such sweeping consequences, Crowetz said it's because the program is on so much of the world’s computers.
"A significant portion of Fortune 500 companies, in particular. And since that program had something that broke, it took down such a large number of computers," Crowetz said.
Amid the outage, the Federal Aviation Administration said several airlines had requested assistance with ground stops for their fleets until the issue is resolved.
FlightAware reported that more than 1,000 U.S. flights have been canceled as of early Friday morning. Additionally, more than 1,700 flights have been delayed.
At Palm Beach International Airport, a spokesperson said 52 flights have been delayed and 20 have been canceled as of 4 p.m. Friday.
"Most airlines are operating but some are still having issues," the spokesperson added.
For much of the day Friday, there has been a very long line leading up to the Delta ticket counter, which appears to be the airline most impacted.
In a statement on its website, Delta said it's "resumed some flight departures after a vendor technology issue impacted several airlines and businesses around the world. That issue necessitated a pause in Delta’s global flight schedule this morning while it was addressed."
Additional delays and cancelations are expected Friday, Delta added.
The airline also said unaccompanied minor travel is paused until Sunday. Those already booked will not be able to travel, and Delta is urging passengers to not book new travel for unaccompanied minors.
Even as service begins to resume this morning, United Airlines cautioned passengers that disruptions to service could last throughout the day.
"A third-party outage is impacting computer systems, including at United and many other organizations worldwide," the company said on its website. "As we work to fully restore these systems, some flights are resuming. Many customers traveling today may experience delays."
American Airlines said "a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American. As of 5:00 a.m. ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience."
On their respective websites, both United and American listed certain airports affected by the outage, but Palm Beach International Airport was not one of them, according to the carriers.
Also, numerous police departments across the U.S. have reported that the outage has affected their 911 service. Many police departments are encouraging the public to contact them via non-emergency lines until the outage is resolved.
