Microsoft outage has turned the world upside down for hours. Banks, airlines, television networks, households and health systems around the world that rely on Microsoft 365 apps were hit by widespread outages early Friday linked to the company CrowdStrike. Thousands of flights and train services were canceled globally, including more than 1,800 in the US. Many other public and retail services were also disrupted.
From refrigerators to flights everything went halt yesterday.
Microsoft issues. Refrigerator won’t open. pic.twitter.com/MOFtAtwTMj
— Vince Wess (@Wessovin) July 19, 2024
Reportedly, more than 5000 flights had been cancelled and, and nearly 42,000 had been delayed. American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines resumed at least some flight departures later Friday morning after pausing operations earlier in the day due to the outages. In many airports, staff started to write down the boarding pass manually.
The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today 😅 pic.twitter.com/xsdnq1Pgjr
— Akshay Kothari (@akothari) July 19, 2024
12-hour timelapse of American Airlines, Delta, and United plane traffic after what was likely the biggest IT outage in history forced a nationwide ground stop of the three airlines. pic.twitter.com/wwcQeiEtVe
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 19, 2024
Hospitals including Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston cancelled all previously scheduled surgeries and medical visits that were not considered urgent because many of the computer systems were down, and access to vital digital records got disrupted.
“We do everything on our computers now. People’s medical history, their allergies. So, when that goes down, we have to revert back to paper carting”, neuro ICU nurse Meghan Mahoney told CBS News. The Department of Health and Human Services said on Friday afternoon it was “working to assess the impact of the CrowdStrike outage on patient care and HHS systems, services, and operations”.
Read also: Global IT Outage Affects Media, Banks And Airlines
Hospitals in Germany said they were cancelling elective surgeries Friday and doctors in the U.K. said they were having issues accessing their online booking system. Pharmacists in the U.K. said there were disruptions with medicine deliveries and accessing prescriptions, reported media.
Starbucks said the outage has caused their customers from ordering using mobile phones. Delivery companies like FedEx also reported that packages could be delayed due to the outage. “FedEx has activated contingency plans to mitigate impacts from a global IT outage experienced by a third-party software vendor. However, potential delays are possible for package deliveries with a commitment of July 19, 2024,” the company said in a statement.
Global media outlets were also affected by the outage. According to AP, in Australia, national news outlets such as public broadcaster ABC and Sky News Australia were unable to broadcast on TV and radio for several hours. News anchors resorted to broadcasting online from darkened offices, with computers displaying blue error screens. Internet and phone service providers were also impacted.
Internet is filled with complaints and memes on the issue. Some mocked Microsoft with scenes from Mr. Bean
Linux users 😎💪💪#Microsoft #Windows #crowdstrike #Infosys pic.twitter.com/l1Elt8DO1z
— Secular Chad (@SachabhartiyaRW) July 19, 2024
IT workers called it Fun Friday.
Fun Friday 😅#Microsoft #crowdstrike #bsod pic.twitter.com/6ndiaPfuqG
— Mohit Jain (@datawithmohit) July 19, 2024
Memes also mocked Microsoft users with Mac users.
macOS >>>>>>>>> Windows. Change my mind 😅#Windows #Microsoft #bluescreen #macos #crowdstrike pic.twitter.com/A1tWZYVYYE
— Manmohit Singh (@ManmohitSandhu) July 19, 2024
Funnily enough, netizens found out an apt movie scene to describe the situation.
Every Windows user today –
BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH#mircrosoft #crowdstrike #bsod #outage pic.twitter.com/RqIudwLFOf
— Mohit Jain (@datawithmohit) July 19, 2024