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How the global IT outage is impacting businesses worldwide

by CiberseguridadTecnología

Spain’s Vueling Airlines also updated its passengers with a post on social media platform X and said: “We inform you that due to a global computer systems outage, our flight operations could be altered.

“We are working to minimise the impact on our clients. If your flight is affected we will inform you via email.”

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol also updated passengers with a statement on its website and said: “There is currently a global computer failure. This disruption also has an impact on flights to and from Schiphol. The impact is now being mapped.” The airport also reported long queues, along with London’s Gatwick and Stansted airports.

The Tokyo-Narita airports, as well as the Delhi airports faced delays as well.

Irish airline Ryanair said it is also experiencing challenges with its check-in processes and has requested that their passengers arrive at the airport three hours prior to their flight.

Dublin airport said in a statement that their team is “on hand to assist Ryanair and passengers in the terminal.”

Health and supermarket services hit

Meanwhile, in the UK, the outage has impacted the National Health Service (NHS) with the medical computer system EMIS also down.

The system allows doctors to book appointments, view patient notes, order prescriptions and make referrals.

GTD Healthcare, a major UK healthcare provider in the North West of England using the system said in a statement on its website: “Unfortunately there is a national issue with EMIS Web – the clinical computer system used within GP practices. 

“This will affect our ability to book appointments/consult with patients this morning. We apologise for the disruption.”

In Germany, two hospitals in the northern cities of Luebeck and Kiel have cancelled elective operations scheduled for Friday.

Patient care and emergency services will go ahead as normal, the University Clinic of Schleswig-Holstein told the BBC.

UK supermarkets such as Morrison’s and Waitrose had to take only cash for their transactions, with Australian stores such as Woolworths also being impacted.

Train services disrupted

Train services have also been impacted by “widespread IT issues” with Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern all reporting problems in the UK.

Source:https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/07/19/how-the-global-microsoft-it-outage-is-impacting-businesses-worldwide

microsofts-blue-screen-of-death

Largest IT outage in history’ hits Microsoft Windows and causes global chaos

by CiberseguridadTecnología

Fault in CrowdStrike software update linked to Windows PCs may take days to fix, experts suggest.

A global IT failure has caused chaos at airports, banks, healthcare services and businesses around the world after a faulty software update triggered “the largest IT outage in history”.

Microsoft’s Windows system was at the centre of the outage, after it was hit by a faulty software update from the US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that left large numbers of workers facing an error screen labelled the “blue screen of death” as their computers failed to start. Experts said the recovery could take days because every affected PC may have to be fixed manually.

In the UK, Whitehall crisis officials were coordinating the response through the Cobra committee that deals with matters of national emergency or major disruption. Ministers were in touch with their sectors to tackle the fallout from the IT failure, and the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said she was working “at pace with industry” after trains and flights were affected.

A Microsoft spokesperson said: “We’re aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform. We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming.”

CrowdStrike confirmed the outage was due to a software update from one of its products and was not caused by a cyber-attack.

Troy Hunt, a leading cybersecurity consultant, said the scale of the IT failure was unprecedented.

“I don’t think it’s too early to call it: this will be the largest IT outage in history,” he wrote on X. “This is basically what we were all worried about with Y2K, except it’s actually happened this time.”

Among the affected firms was Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline, which said on its website: “Potential disruptions across the network due to a global third party system outage … We advise passengers to arrive at the airport three hours in advance of their flight to avoid any disruptions.”

In the US, flights were grounded owing to communications problems that appear to be linked to the outage. American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines were among the carriers affected. Berlin airport temporarily halted all flights on Friday, while in Australia, Melbourne airport advised customers it was “experiencing a global technology issue which is impacting check-in procedures for some airlines”.

There had been more than 1,000 flight cancellations worldwide so far due to the IT failure, according to the aviation analysis firm Cirium.

Queues and blank screens at airports as Microsoft IT outage disrupts travel – video

A passenger at Gatwick airport, the UK’s second largest, described the scene at the travel hub as “bedlam”, with staff handing out water to those stranded.

GP practices in the UK said they were unable to access patient records or book appointments. Surgeries reported on social media that they could not access the EMIS Web system. It is understood that NHS hospitals and 999 services are unaffected by the outage. The National Pharmacy Association confirmed that UK services could be affected.

A spokesperson for Keir Starmer said they were unaware of the problem having any impact on government services.

She said the government recognised the impact it was having more broadly and the public should follow the advice of transport operators and others.

The prime minister did not attend the Cobra meeting as he was hosting the Ukrainian president, Volodmyr Zelenskiy, at a meeting of the cabinet at the time.

“We are certainly aware of the disruption this has caused to business and to those particularly looking to travel today. We are closely monitoring the situation and making sure the relevant industries can use the support we can provide,” the spokesperson said.

The Israeli health ministry said “the global malfunction” had affected 16 hospitals, while in Germany the Schleswig-Holstein university hospital in the north of the country said it had cancelled all planned operations in Kiel and Lübeck.

In the UK, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) – the parent company of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern – warned passengers to expect delays. According to the service status monitoring website Downdetector, users in the UK were reporting issues with the services of Visa, BT, major supermarket chains, banks, online gaming platforms and media outlets. The Sky News and CBBC channels were also temporarily off air in the UK before resuming broadcasting.