Businesses and services worldwide are gradually recovering from a severe IT outage that affected computer systems for several hours on Thursday and Friday.
Several industries, including banks, hospitals, and airlines, experienced severe disruptions when cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike released a faulty software update affecting Microsoft Windows.
The CEO of Crowdstrike apologized for the inconvenience and confirmed that a corrective update had been deployed, although he acknowledged that it might take a while for all systems to fully recover.
Air travel is slowly resuming normal operations after the cancellation of thousands of flights, yet ongoing delays and cancellations are expected to continue into the weekend.
Currently, many companies are addressing backlogs and missed orders, which may require several days to clear.
Healthcare services in Britain, Israel, and Germany were also disrupted, leading to the cancellation of some medical procedures.
This incident has raised alarms about the fragility of global interconnected technologies and the potential for a single software error to trigger such broad disruptions.
The problem started at 19:00 GMT on Thursday with Windows users who had installed Crowdstrike’s Falcon cybersecurity software experiencing issues, which were not fully recognized until Friday morning.
By Friday evening, conditions had improved in various regions, with most airports reporting operational flights despite lingering issues with check-in and payment systems.
Downdetector, a website that monitors online service outages, showed a significant reduction in reported problems across the UK by late Friday.
George Kurtz, CEO of Crowdstrike, disclosed on the social media platform X that the issue stemmed from an error in a specific update for Windows systems.
“We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, travelers, and anyone affected by this, including our company,” he told the NBC network.
“Many of the customers are rebooting the system, and it’s coming up and will be operational. It could be some time for some systems that just automatically won’t recover, but it is our mission… to make sure every customer is fully recovered.”
Microsoft has warned that it might be necessary to reboot affected systems multiple times, with reports suggesting up to 15 reboots could be required for resolution.
Technical specialists have noted that the solution provided by Crowdstrike must be implemented individually on each affected device.
This situation is likely to prompt scrutiny of Crowdstrike’s dominant position in the cybersecurity sector and question the prudence of allowing such critical infrastructure to be controlled by a few entities.
Following these events, Crowdstrike’s stock value dropped by approximately 12%, to the benefit of competitors like SentinelOne and Palo Alto Networks.
The issues were initially detected in Australia, with the aviation sector experiencing significant operational disruptions.
Airports were congested with delays, extensive queues, and numerous flight cancellations, leading to grounded aircraft and stranded passengers.
Additional personnel were called in at some locations to handle passenger check-ins manually.
As of 18:00 GMT on Friday, aviation data indicated that about 4,000 flights, or 3.9% of total flights, had been canceled, although this number may include cancellations due to other factors.
The outage also impacted payment systems and providers in sectors such as banking and healthcare.
There are concerns that the outage might have longer-term impacts, particularly in meeting payroll obligations, especially for businesses that process wages weekly.
Several railway operators issued warnings about expected delays, and media outlets such as Sky News and ABC Australia reported experiencing disruptions.
