Cybersecurity issues cause worldwide system outages, airlines grounded
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Less than an hour after Microsoft announced that it had repaired its cloud services outage that affected multiple low-cost carriers, a number of them grounded their flights.
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Delta Airlines planes sit parked at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, June 28, 2024. (AFP)
Major US airlines issued international ground stops on Friday due to communication problems, while global carriers, media companies, banks, and telecom businesses also reported system outages disrupting their operations.
Less than an hour after Microsoft announced that it had repaired its cloud services outage that affected multiple low-cost carriers, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and Allegiant Air grounded their flights. However, it is unclear whether the command to stand ground was connected to an earlier Microsoft cloud outage.
The Australian government believes that system outages in its media, bank, and telecoms firms may be related to issues at Crowdstrike, an international cybersecurity company. Ultimately, Downdector, a crowdsourced website cited system outages at multiple telecom companies and bank firms.
Without mentioning Australia, the tech company released a recorded phone message when Reuters reached out to its technical support on Friday, stating it is aware of the Microsoft Windows operating system crash reports related to the company’s Falcon system.
"There was no information to suggest the outage was a cyber security incident," the office of Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuinness wrote on X.
I am aware of a large-scale technical outage affecting a number of companies and services across Australia this afternoon.
— National Cyber Security Coordinator (@AUCyberSecCoord) July 19, 2024
Our current information is this outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies.
The outages extended to a global scale with Spain reporting a "computer incident" at all its airports, while European airline Ryanair warned passengers of possible unspecific operation disruptions that may affect "all airlines operating across the Network."
AWS cloud service provider said in a statement that it is "investigating reports of connectivity issues to Windows EC2 instances and Workspaces within AWS."
It was not immediately evident if all reported outages were solely due to technical issues with Crowdstrike, or if there were other contributing factors.
Major US airlines, including American Airlines, Delta, United, and Allegiant Air, halted flights due to communication disruptions.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 19, 2024
This occurred shortly before Microsoft announced resolving a cloud services outage affecting several budget carriers.
Globally, media outlets,… pic.twitter.com/bm8ZsF17pU
