Critical systems worldwide are experiencing failures due to substantial IT problems at Crowdstrike. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is among the affected, with numerous flights delayed or canceled late Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday morning.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed that Delta, American Airlines, and United Airlines have requested a global ground stop. United and American Airlines posted on X that the problem is being resolved, and SFO confirmed that “airline systems are coming back online.”
“Earlier this morning, a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American,” wrote American Airlines on X. “As of 5:00AM ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation.”
United wrote, “As we work to fully restore these systems, some flights are resuming. Many customers traveling today may experience delays.”
What else is impacted by the IT outage?
This outage is impacting various services, from small business credit card transactions to major healthcare operations, with many users encountering the “blue screen of death.”
In the United States, emergency 911 lines are reportedly down in Alaska, New Hampshire, Arizona, and Ohio. New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has also reported system outages, and stores in Australia are encountering payment system failures. In the U.K., IT issues are disrupting major train companies, Sky News, and even GP surgery appointments.
Why is there a global IT outage?
The global IT outage initially seemed to be connected to Microsoft. However, cybersecurity company Crowdstrike was later identified at the center of the problem. A faulty update on Windows 10 PCs is causing systems to crash and fail to restart.
Crowdstrike issued a statement after the incident stating that a defect in a Falcon update was the cause of the IT outage. The company stated the outage was not due to a cyber attack and that Mac and Linux systems were not affected. Crowdstrike is currently working to resolve the problem, and CEO George Kurtz stated “We are working closely with impacted customers and partners to ensure that all systems are restored, so you can deliver the services your customers rely on.”
For more updates regarding the outage and resources visit Crowdstrike’s support page.