Microsoft's global problem
The disruption of information technology paralyses air traffic, petrol stations and banks in many countries

July 19, 2024, 09:13

Public life is largely at a standstill in many countries. Australia, Great Britain, the USA and India, among others, are reporting serious technical problems. Services are also unavailable or only available to a limited extent at German airports and at Lufthansa.

Technical problems at Microsoft and the cybersecurity company Crowdstrike are causing severe restrictions on public life in several countries. There are currently reports from Germany, Great Britain, Spain, the United States and India, among others. However, the problems seem to be most serious in Australia: in addition to air traffic, banks, rail traffic, supermarket chains, petrol stations and television channels are or were affected by the disruption. They are unable to offer their services or can only offer them to a limited extent. As things currently stand, this is not a cyber attack.

More on massive IT failures on the live ticker

Out of necessity, the Australian government called an emergency meeting in the morning: “The Australian Government is working closely with the National Cyber ​​Security Coordinator on these evolving disruptions,” the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

Riots at the BER and in Hamburg

In Germany, air traffic at Berlin Airport had to be halted due to a technical failure. An airport spokeswoman told ntv.de that no planes are expected to take off or land until 10 a.m. As RBB reports, a server failure has occurred at Berlin Airport. At around 11 a.m., the BER announced that operations were gradually resuming. However, travellers should be prepared for longer waiting times.

Hamburg Airport is also affected by the disruption. A spokeswoman for the airport explained that several airlines would initially issue their tickets manually. Lufthansa is also reporting problems with its systems. Individual delays and cancellations are said to be possible. However, a spokesman for Frankfurt Airport stated that all systems were working and that flight operations could take place without interruption.

Irish budget airline Ryanair is also affected. “We are currently experiencing a network disruption due to a global third-party IT outage that is beyond our control,” the airline writes on the X platform. “We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.” If you are travelling today and have not yet checked in, you can do so at the airport.

Switzerland, Madrid, Amsterdam

As a precautionary measure, Swiss air traffic control Skyguide has reduced the capacity of Swiss transit traffic by 30 percent. In addition, the capacity on the approach to Zurich has also been reduced by 30 percent. In some cases, the air traffic control computer system itself was affected by the disruption. However, safety in Swiss airspace is guaranteed.

Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Madrid airport waiting for information about their flights. As the operator Aena announced, a failure in the computer system forced employees to process flights manually.

In the Netherlands, Amsterdam's Schiphol airport was affected and KLM announced it had largely suspended its air operations. In France, Air France said there were computer problems, but not at Paris airports.

“We are aware of a problem”

The cause appears to be a problem with Microsoft applications. Companies around the world work with the software offerings of the American technology group. A technical problem caused a worldwide outage of Microsoft 365, writes Microsoft on the X Platform: “We are investigating an issue affecting users’ ability to access several Microsoft 365 applications and services.” In this regard, the company notes “a positive trend in service availability.”

On several platforms, users are also reporting problems with an update from the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. “We are aware of a widespread issue that is causing errors on Windows computers across multiple sensor versions,” a Crowdstrike official said online. As reported by Bloomberg, among others, the Crowdstrike bug is said to have caused the Microsoft error.

“We apologize for the interruption”

The most severe restrictions are currently in place in Great Britain and Australia. Among others, the British news channel Sky News had to temporarily suspend its programming. In the meantime, viewers simply read on a still image: “We apologize for the interruption. We hope to be able to continue broadcasting soon.”

In Australia, all monitors at the ABC News television channel are said to have failed. Sydney and Melbourne airports are also reporting a similar problem. As a result, several airlines are currently unable to process check-in. Several Australian banks are also reporting that their payment systems are affected by the disruption and that transfers cannot be made at present. There are also restrictions at Australian petrol stations.

In the US, American Airlines, United and Delta have reportedly requested a “global halt for all flights” from the US Federal Aviation Administration. In Japan, around 30 percent of all McDonald's branches have had to close early due to technical problems.