A sign for Microsoft offices is seen, May 6, 2021, in New York.
Mark Lennihan/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Mark Lennihan/AP
A global computer glitch apparently triggered by software distributed by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused widespread global outages late Thursday and into Friday morning.
The problem affected airline communications, causing the Federal Aviation Administration to ground major carriers in the U.S., including American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines.
Microsoft, which hosts cloud services with businesses and governments, said it was grappling with service outages.
Microsoft issued a statement saying the problem was being investigated while cautioning that users “may be unable to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”
While the exact series of events remains unclear, the issue reverberated widely.
Airports in Japan and Australia, 911 phone lines in Alaska, and the London Stock Exchange and hospitals in England were all dealing with major disruptions.
Entire companies are reporting being offline, and merchants can’t process payments in some cities.
News agencies, like Sky News in Australia, also reported being completely knocked offline.
#Widespread #technology #outage #disrupts #flights #banking #world #NPR,
#Widespread #technology #outage #disrupts #flights #banking #world #NPR