Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the global IT outage that struck on Friday morning, disrupting services worldwide. Nadella attributed the issue to a recent update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, stating, “We are aware of this issue and are working closely with CrowdStrike and across the industry to provide customers technical guidance and support to safely bring their systems back online.”
The outage affected a wide range of services, including airports, airlines, banks, hospitals, and broadcasters. Emergency 911 call centers in several US states were also impacted. Microsoft confirmed the issue on X, and despite initial fixes, many services remain affected.
CrowdStrike, has reportedly, identified and isolated the problem, deploying a fix while clarifying that it was not a security incident or cyberattack. However, the disruption was extensive, causing delays in flights, healthcare services, and financial operations, including the London Stock Exchange.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said in a recent tweet that the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed.
“Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected. We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption. We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on. As noted earlier, the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed. There was an issue with a Falcon content update for Windows Hosts,” he said.
Hospitals in the US, such as Massachusetts General Hospital, canceled non-urgent procedures due to IT issues. In the UK, the National Health Service and pharmacies struggled with their systems. State troopers across the US reported 911 line outages, with some states gradually restoring services.