Tech outage disrupts global businesses, services

GENEVA, Switzerland | Xinhua | A widespread technology outage on Friday grounded flights, disrupted banking operations, and took media outlets off the air, highlighting the global dependence on a few key software providers.

CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm at the heart of the global outage, identified a defect in its Falcon software update as the cause but stressed that the incident was not due to a security breach or cyberattack.

“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,” the firm said in a statement. “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

According to Paris Olympics organizers, the outage has delayed the arrival of some Olympic delegations, impacting the delivery of uniforms and accreditations.

However, ticketing and the torch relay have not been impacted. “Our teams have been fully mobilized to ensure the continuity of operations at optimum levels,” the statement added.

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) reported that the global outage caused issues at most doctors’ offices across England.

NHS England said in a statement that the glitch was affecting the appointment and patient record systems used throughout the public health system. While the outage impacted the majority of family doctors’ practices, it did not affect the 999 emergency number used for ambulance services.

The state-funded NHS provides healthcare for the majority of people in the UK.

Several German airports, including the capital’s airport BER, have been hit by a global IT glitch, which caused delays, cancellations, and disruptions.

“Please contact your airline to find out whether your flight is affected by the worldwide disruption,” BER Berlin Brandenburg Airport said via platform X. “If your flight has been canceled, please do not come to the airport.”

Passengers at Stuttgart Airport and Baden-Airpark are facing longer waiting time because check-in systems are not working, but there were no flight cancellations.

More than 21,000 flights were delayed globally, though American Airlines and other major U.S. carriers reported that some flights have started to resume.

CrowdStrike’s shares plunged more than 14 percent on Friday due to the global ripple effects of the glitch. ■