Microsoft's Windows Cyber Outage Hits Banking, Airports, and Broadcasting Systems Worldwide

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Widespread Windows failures have crippled the computer systems of emergency services, banks, airports, and more across the globe.

Windows machines reportedly failed to boot, with unconfirmed reports indicating that the problem lies with cybersecurity company CrowdStrike's software, as reported by Forbes on Friday, July 19, 2024.

This issue caused reports of grounded flights, failed online banking services, and broadcasters being forced off-air. 

The Down Detector website shows a sharp increase in reports of disrupted services, including Microsoft, Visa, Ryanair, and many other companies.

Troy Hunt, the creator of the HaveIBeenPwned website, also reported on social media platform X that there are widespread reports of Windows PCs refusing to booth.

“Something super weird happening right now: just been called by several totally different media outlets in the last few minutes, all with Windows machines suddenly BSoD’ing (Blue Screen of Death),” he wrote.

There are reports of problems occurring in the US, India, Japan, and many other countries. Attempts to log into two UK banks this morning have failed. 

US emergency services computers were also affected. One commenter wrote on the Hacker News site: “My entire emergency department got knocked offline by this. Really scary when you have ambulances coming in and are trying to stabilize a heart attack. 911 is down in Oregon too.”

In the United Kingdom, train services were also disrupted by the blackout. “We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network,” the Southern Railway team posted on X, which is responsible for many of the train services in the south of England.

“We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.”

Sky News was forced off-air due to this problem but has since resumed broadcasting.

The cyber outage also affected banking services and broadcasting systems in Australia and New Zealand, Reuters reported.

Australia's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank said some customers had been unable to transfer money due to the service outage. National airline Qantas and Sydney Airport said planes were delayed but still flying.

A spokesperson for New Zealand's parliament said its computer systems had also been affected.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore’s Changi Airport said they switched to manual check-in due to the Microsoft outage

It is unclear whether this was a cyber attack or a system failure. Unconfirmed reports suggest that CrowdStrike’s support engineers have acknowledged the problem with the company's software and are reverting an update that seemingly caused the issue.  

ERWIN PRIMA | FORBES | REUTERS

Editor’s Choice: Cyber Consultant Shares 6 Tips to Avoid Ransomware Attacks    

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News