A significant internet outage affecting Microsoft has disrupted flights, financial institutions, media outlets, and businesses worldwide. The issues persisted for hours even after the tech giant reported it was gradually resolving a problem impacting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Airlines and airports across the United States, Europe, Australia, India, and other regions experienced difficulties, leading to grounded flights. Retail stores, banks, railway companies, and hospitals in various parts of the world were also impacted by what seems to be an unprecedented internet disruption.
A massive IT glitch affecting Microsoft cloud computing services has paralyzed major airlines, medical facilities, businesses, and police forces globally early Friday. It has caused chaos for numerous key institutions and businesses worldwide, which might take some time to clear up. Numerous flights have been grounded globally, and stores and broadcasters in multiple countries went offline. According to aviation technology company FlightAware, the tech glitch accounted for more than half of the 1,352 flight delays and cancellations in the U.S. before 8 a.m. (ET) on Friday.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike stated on Friday that the outages were caused by a routine software update that went wrong and assured that it was “not a security incident or cyberattack.” CrowdStrike, which offers cybersecurity services and software to many large corporations using Microsoft systems, released a new software update that automatically resolved issues on some computers. However, others require manual restarting and patching, resulting in significant delays.
Microsoft announced late Friday morning that its 365 apps and services had recovered, although some individual customers might still experience issues.
