The United States experienced a major IT outage on Friday morning, leading to widespread disruption in the transportation, emergency services, and healthcare sectors. The outage resulted in stranded air passengers, closure of US courts, and disruptions in hospital functions. The root cause of the problem was reportedly an update from CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity software company, which affected systems using Microsoft’s Windows.
Numerous workers worldwide encountered error screens on their computers, which many experts have suggested could potentially constitute the largest IT failure in history. The effects of the outage were felt across various sectors, including closure of US courts, interruptions in banking services, and multiple problems for hospitals, police, and firefighters. The San Francisco fire department reported 20 simultaneous false fire alarms, all likely due to the IT issue.
Emergency services, including law enforcement, were heavily impacted. In Alaska, 911 emergency and non-emergency call centers ceased to function properly, and similar problems were reported in other states such as Arizona, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Ohio. CrowdStrike has since addressed the update-related issue, but the process of implementing the fix may take some time.
In an interview with the Today show, George Kurtz, the CEO of CrowdStrike, expressed deep regret for the impact caused by the outage and emphasized that it was due to a bug in a software update rather than a cyber-attack. The White House confirmed that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation and stated that his team is prepared to provide assistance as needed.
The impact of the IT outage was particularly evident in airports along the east coast from Miami to Boston, where flights were severely disrupted by Microsoft Windows outages. According to FlightAware, over 1,200 flights had been cancelled, and nearly 3,000 were delayed by 9 am on Friday. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that several major airlines had issued ground stops, preventing planes from taking off.
In addition to air travel, the IT outage also affected other forms of transportation. Two major shipping terminals in New Jersey delayed their opening, and the website of the Washington DC Metro system remained inaccessible for several hours before eventually returning to operation.
The repercussions of the outage extended to the healthcare sector, as hospital systems experienced disruptions impacting non-urgent appointments and surgeries. Across the US, healthcare groups were forced to cancel non-emergency appointments due to significant disruptions in their systems.
As the situation unfolds, the US Department of Transportation, led by Secretary Pete Buttigieg, is closely monitoring the events, especially within the airline industry, to ensure that they fulfill their responsibilities to passengers.
This widespread IT outage serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities of modern technological systems and the far-reaching impact that such disruptions can have. As affected organizations work to recover from this incident, the focus remains on addressing the immediate challenges and preventing similar disruptions in the future.