A global Microsoft outage paralyzed several companies, disrupting banks, airlines, media, hospitals, and more operations.
The outage was caused by a flawed update conducted by CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity firm, which affected most Microsoft users.
(Photo : Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
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Microsoft Outage Disrupted Daily Business Operations
According to reports, the outage has affected almost every major business sector across the globe. Airlines suffered the greatest casualty, as several flights were delayed or canceled altogether due to the incident.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines issued ground stops during the event due to communication problems. International airlines also experience failed electronic systems which prompted the staff to check passengers manually.
The outage was also felt in financial institutions, leaving customers unable to access their money and conduct transactions. The London Stock Exchange reported a disruption but clarified that trading was not affected.
Fast food chains and restaurants also felt the impact of the outage. Some McDonald's branches were forced to close due to cash register malfunction. Meanwhile, other stores remained open but only accepted cash transactions.
CrowdStrike Admits Faulty Update, Apologizes for Global Outage
CrowdStrike confirmed that the outage was caused by a Falcon content update that had a bug. It has affected Microsoft users but Mac and Linux users were safe from it.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz also clarified that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack. "The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed," he added.
The company announced that it is now working closely with affected customers and partners to ensure that every system will be restored. CrowdStrike also advised customers to remain vigilant against people who might try to impersonate their representatives.
The majority of the impacted customers will have their computers fixed automatically. Microsoft released a manual fix for other users on its service page to help other users.
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