IT systems across the globe have been thrown into chaos following a major worldwide network.
Cyber security firm Crowdstrike has identified an issue with “content deployment” and is frantically trying to develop a work around for affected users.
DownDectector, which tracks user-reported disruptions to internet services, recorded that airlines, payment platforms and online shopping websites across the world were affected — although the disruption appeared piecemeal and was apparently related to whether the companies used Microsoft cloud-based services.
Emergency lines are down in the US with 911 call centres in Alaska out of operation.
Long lines formed at airports in the U.S., Europe and Asia as airlines lost access to check-in and booking services at a time when many travelers are heading away on summer vacations. News outlets in Australia — where telecommunications were severely affected — were pushed off air for hours. Hospitals and doctor’s offices had problems with their appointment systems, while banks in South Africa and New Zealand reported outages to their payment system or websites and apps.
Airlines have suffered widespread disruption to air travel with departure boards frozen and flights grounded at airports internationally.
Other transport routes across rail networks in Europe are also expected to suffer delays and cancellations.
Earlier this morning a mass of IT outages were reported worldwide, issues which have since been connected to cyber security firm CrowdStrike.
The company has previously been involved in several high-profile cyber attacks, however the cause behind the most recent wave of network disruption has not been identified.
It is believed the outage started on Thursday evening with further reports overnight indicating a clearer pattern of widespread network outages.
The disruption is known to be affecting Windows operating systems and Microsoft has confirmed it is taking “mitigation actions” over service issues.
Businesses, transport hubs and media companies across the global are reporting network issues.
In the UK, train companies including Southern Rail, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern have warned passengers to expect disruption due to IT problems.
Reuters has reported boarding scanners are down in Edinburgh Airport and several airlines internationally have reported expected delays to travel.
Long queues and check-in delays have also been reported at Heathrow, the busiest UK airport which serves more passengers than any other site in Europe. Hundreds of travelers are due to be flying to the US this morning and have had their flights delayed.
Sky News was taken off air in the UK after the group’s executive chairman confirmed the channel had “not been able to broadcast live TV.” There are also reports of GP practices having problems with their booking systems.
The London Stock Exchange’s regulatory news service is experiencing network outages which a statement attributed to “a third party global technical issue, preventing news from being published”.
Elsewhere, some retailers, including popular coffee chain Gails, are experiencing issues across tills and self checkouts, meaning card payments are unavailable in some stores.
The exact cause of the global network meltdown is not yet known, but Microsoft has said it is continuing to deal with the “lingering impact” of the outage.
In a statement on social media, CrowdStrike said the global IT outage was “not a security incident or cyberattack”.
The firm added: “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed”.
