Global recovery underway after major IT outage

Businesses and services around the globe are gradually recovering from a significant IT outage that disrupted computer systems on Thursday and Friday. The outage severely affected businesses, banks, hospitals, and airlines due to a faulty software update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which impacted Microsoft Windows systems.

CrowdStrike's CEO, George Kurtz, apologized for the disruption and confirmed that a fix had been deployed. However, he cautioned that it might take "some time" for all systems to be fully operational again.

Airlines, among the worst affected, are beginning to resume normal operations after thousands of flights were cancelled. However, operators expect delays and cancellations to continue through the weekend as they deal with backlogs and missed orders that could take days to resolve. Health services in Britain, Israel, and Germany also experienced issues, with some operations cancelled.

The incident has raised concerns about the vulnerability of interconnected technologies and the widespread impact a single software glitch can have. The problem began at 19:00 GMT on Thursday and primarily affected Windows users running CrowdStrike Falcon. The full extent of the issue became apparent by Friday morning, but by Friday evening, many regions reported easing problems. Hong Kong International Airport, for example, resumed normal operations.

JP Morgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., is working to restore service to its ATMs. Downdetector, a site that tracks tech issues, showed a decrease in problems across the UK by the end of the day.

Kurtz explained that the defect was found "in a single content update for Windows hosts" and expressed deep regret for the impact caused. He noted that while many systems are rebooting and becoming operational, some might require more time to recover fully. Microsoft indicated that several reboots might be necessary, with some users needing up to 15 reboots before resolving the issue. Tech experts added that CrowdStrike's fix must be applied to each affected device separately.

This incident is likely to spark discussions about CrowdStrike's role as a major player in the cybersecurity market and the risks associated with a few companies controlling such a critical industry segment. CrowdStrike's shares fell by around 12% on Friday, benefiting competitors like SentinelOne and Palo Alto Networks.

The issues were first noticed in Australia and had a significant impact on the air travel industry. Airports experienced delays, long queues, cancelled flights, grounded aircraft, and stranded passengers, leading to manual check-ins by extra staff. By 18:00 GMT, aviation data from Cirium indicated over 4,000 flight cancellations, representing 3.9% of the total, though this figure might include cancellations for other reasons.

Payment systems, banking, and healthcare providers worldwide were affected. The outage may also have long-term effects, particularly for companies struggling to pay wages to staff, especially where payments are made weekly. Some railway companies warned of delays, and broadcasters like Sky News and ABC Australia also experienced outages.