An outage in some Microsoft services is paralyzing many businesses around the world today, as the tech giant said it is taking “mitigation measures” until it fixes the problem.
The technical failure at Microsoft shut down businesses such as banks, airlines, telecommunications companies, TV and radio stations and even supermarkets around the world, while a blue screen of death appeared on Windows workstations around the world.
Many Microsoft 365 services appear to be affected including Teams. Last January, Microsoft’s cloud suffered a global outage that affected services from Outlook to Teams. At the time, Microsoft stated that this was due to a network change.
Where the problem has been fixed so far:
Microsoft Defender
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender Experts
Microsoft Intune
Microsoft OneNote
OneDrive for Business
SharePoint Online
Windows 365
Viva Engage
Microsoft Purview
However, problems remain in:
PowerBI
Microsoft Fabric
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft 365 admin center
According to experts, there was a problem in the latest updates made by the two companies, Microsoft and Crowdstrike, in combination.
What is a blue screen (BSOD)?
A Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is a bright blue screen with white text that indicates a system error in Windows. BSOD usually occurs due to damaged hardware or software, problems with system files, or driver problems. This error can lead to data loss and system crashes.
What Microsoft announced
Microsoft announced today that it is taking measures following a technical problem that affected several businesses and mainly airlines. “Our services are improving as we continue to take mitigation measures,” the company said in a message on social media X.
Also, the announcement came as many businesses reported technical problems or breakdowns: businesses in Australia such as the ABC television network, Sydney Airport and a supermarket chain, Berlin Airport, or even Britain’s largest rail operator, as well as the Stock Exchange of London.
Also, in its “Service Downgrade” message, Microsoft notes that users “may not be able to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”
Microsoft adds that it remains “motivated to manage this incident, giving it the highest and most urgent priority, while continuing to address the ongoing impact for the remaining Microsoft 365 applications that are in a degraded state.”
Crowdstrike’s CEO announcement
“Crowdstrike is actively working with customers affected by a flaw found in a content update for Windows hosts.
“Mac and Linux hosts are not affected. This is not a security incident or cyber attack.
“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been developed.
“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide full and continuous updates on our website.
“We further recommend that organizations ensure they communicate with Crowdstrike representatives through official channels.
“Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike’s customers.”
Which sectors were affected?
Airlines grounded flights, queues formed at airports, problems faced by the Australian state television ABC, the British network Sky News, the London stock exchange: for a few hours the number of companies reporting problems in their operation or breakdowns is constantly increasing.
In a message titled: “Service degradation,” Microsoft said users “may be unable to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”
Microsoft added that it is working “to manage this incident.”
Many airports announced that they were affected by the damage and mainly those of Berlin, Amsterdam-Schiphol, all Spanish, while some airlines also reported problems: the American Delta, United, American Airlines, the European Air France, Ryanair as well as three Indian .
“At the moment the only information we have is that there is a technical incident and therefore (…) air traffic had to be suspended until 10:00 (local time, 11:00 Greek time),” explained a representative of the Berlin airport without specifying the nature of the fault and without being able to specify when the problem will be rectified.
Aena, the managing company of Spanish airports, in a message to X spoke of possible “delays”.
Scandinavian airline SAS has indicated that technical problems are affecting its booking system, making it impossible to book a ticket online.
Meanwhile, two hospitals in northern Germany, in the cities of Lübeck and Kiel, canceled non-urgent operations scheduled for today due to problems with the IT system linked to the cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.
Britain: Problem also in the Health system
A health booking system used by doctors in England is offline, health officials said in posts today on the X platform.
Skynews is also out
British Sky News, one of the country’s biggest television stations, might not broadcast its program today.
“Sky News is unable to broadcast live television this morning, telling viewers at this time that we apologize for the disruption,” the network’s executive chairman David Rodge told Platform X.
Britain’s biggest rail operator has said it has been affected by a technical IT system problem, which will “potentially lead to last-minute cancellations”.
In Australia, media, banks and telecommunications companies have experienced technical failures, which the government says are linked to a Crowdstrike problem.
For its part, Crowdstrike said in a recorded message that it is aware of reports of a problem with Microsoft’s Windows operating system linked to the Falcon sensor.
“I have been made aware of a large-scale technical breach affecting a number of businesses and services across Australia this followingnoon,” Michelle McGuinness of the Australian Cybersecurity Agency said via X.
In addition, McGuinness emphasized that “there is no information to suggest that this is an incident related to cyber security”.
A British government security source has confirmed that the breach is not being treated as malicious.
Delays have been reported at Stansted Airport. Similar situations have developed in Amsterdam and Berlin.
As the BBC reports, more than 1,000 flights have been canceled today around the world so far, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
That number – currently 1,078 – will rise as the effects of the blackout increase.
The company also reports that today was set to be the busiest day for UK flight departures so far this year, with more than 3,200 scheduled departures – the highest number of daily departures since October 2019.
At the same time, the 911 emergency line in the US state of Alaska “went down,” according to officials. Services of the London Stock Exchange also faced problems, while the electronic patient appointment platform of the British Health system “fell”.
Reports of problems have been made worldwide in many regions of the world, such as several countries in Europe but also India, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
Where is it due to?
The cause of the outage is still officially under investigation.
According to the indications so far, however, the problem seems to be due to the Crowdstrike software update developed for computers using the Microsoft system. It is noted that Crowdstrike is a company that provides cyber security services.
The UK Ministry of Defense said it was monitoring the situation and had not been affected by the “short circuit”.
He also noted that there is no indication that a hostile agent was involved.
Germany: There is no question of a cyber attack
“There is no question of a cyber attack” once morest Germany, the Federal Ministry of the Interior assured a while ago, referring to the technical problems that have caused serious problems in the operation of airports, banks and television stations since the morning.
“One cause of the problems in IT networks worldwide – and in Germany – is apparently the faulty update of a security system by the manufacturer Crowdstrike,” the ministry said in its statement, adding that, according to the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI ), the manufacturer has shared a proposed workaround which should now be implemented by those affected by the flaw. In addition, Microsoft announced for its part that there was an error in the operation of Microsoft Azure. “According to the information so far, there is no evidence of a cyber attack. The incidents are constantly being evaluated and BSI is in constant communication with all relevant agencies on the evolution of the situation”, the ministry emphasizes.
How does it affect Greece?
The Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou speaking to SKAI said:
“In our country the upgrade of the software in question would be done later, and therefore the systems were not affected to a large extent. As for ordinary Windows users, the minister clarified that the security software is used by large enterprises, so it will not affect them.
Mr. Papastergiou further emphasized that it was a problem in a security update that threw the system into an “endless loop”.
No problems at Eleftherios Venizelos
Air traffic and passenger service at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport are progressing without particular problems. And this despite the operational problems faced by other major airports internationally, in their information systems.
In particular, as a representative of the Airport’s communication department told APE-MPE a while ago, only some of the airlines have experienced operating problems in their information systems, which are overcome by resorting to… traditional Check In methods (use of cards, etc.). No problems or flight delays have been observed, beyond the usual.
AEGEAN: The technical problems have not significantly affected the operational operation
AEGEAN informs that, as reflected in international press reports, due to problems with an antivirus system provider, problems have been created in air transport worldwide, but without significantly affecting our own business operation.
However, due to the problems caused throughout the global chain and support systems, some services on our site have been affected, and our flights to and from airports whose operations have been affected may also be affected.
Our passengers can be updated from all the company’s official channels.
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