Microsoft Outage Highlights | Several Times Square billboards went dark after outage; ‘handful’ still remain offline

Microsoft outage impacting services worldwide: All you need to know

Microsoft has announced an investigation into the Azure cloud server outage in the US and other parts of the world.

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Microsoft global outage: Full list of domestic, international airlines affected

A global Microsoft outage on Friday threw the aviation sector into disarray, resulting in massive delays, cancellations, and grounding of flights around the world.

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'We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming': Microsoft

"We're aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform," the spokesperson said. (PTI)

MoS Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol: Ground operations of airports have been affected, DGCA and MoCA are monitoring

Passengers says flights were cancelled with no prior information because of the outage

A passenger at Chennai airport, Dev Mohanty says, "I had a flight to Goa and it has been cancelled. But, IndiGo did not inform us by text or e-mail. We have not received any form of intimation that the flight has been cancelled. On reaching here, I was told by the CISF officials that the flight had been cancelled...IndiGo has made no arrangements whatsoever...I am not sure what the alternate arrangements are..."

A passenger at Chennai airport, Mahesh Bellur says, "There was no prior information and I am aware that there is a global Microsoft outage...I came here and I got to know that the flight was cancelled. They do not have a solution. They said we have to wait till 5 pm to get the next update...I am going to Bengaluru...I do not blame them completely..."

A passenger at Chennai airport, Sanket says, "My flight was at 5:10 pm and they did not send us any message that the flight got cancelled. We have been here since noon...I have a connecting flight from Nagpur to the US. They are asking us to come at 6 pm. But what happens to my connecting flight? I will be missing my US flight...They are mentioning that this is due to some software issue...They are not letting us talk to the manager. They are not giving us directives..." (ANI)

Fix has been deployed: President & CEO CrowdStrike George Kurtz

In a tweet, President & CEO CrowdStrike George Kurtz wrote, "CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed..."

Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal books another flight after his first one gets cancelled

I know as much as you know: BJP leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar

"I know as much as you know. I am consuming the unprecedented outage. I have seen many outages, system shutdowns, crashes due to underlying problems. In this case, there is no underlying problems. Only Microsoft will have to determine the issue and communicate it with the government. This has affected many consumers, small businesses," says BJP leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar.

We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming: Microsoft

Amid a massive global outage that hit operations of airlines, banks and businesses across the globe, Microsoft on Friday said that it is aware of the issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform.

A Microsoft spokesperson said: "We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming". (PTI)

Manual check-in initiated at Bengaluru airport as systems fail due to global IT outage

WATCH: Manual boarding passes being issued to passengers at #Goa airport due to 'server outage'.

Elon Musk trolls Microsoft amidst global outage

The Tesla CEO shared two posts, one of which was posted in October 2021.“Macrohard >> Microsoft,” he wrote, mentioning that “Although Teams is pretty good.”

Musk also posted two laughing emojis while reacting to a meme that was shared by DogeDesigner, stating “everything else is down, this app still works.” The meme shows a man enjoying a cricket match while smoking.

Deaths because of this is inevitable, says cyber security expert James Bore

An AP report quoted James Bore, head of cyber security consulting company Bores, saying, “There are going to be deaths because of this. It’s inevitable." He added: “We’ve got so many systems tied up with this. We’ve got emergency services. There are going to be excess deaths. People will die who wouldn’t have otherwise. And we’re not talking millions, but it is going to hurt people. And there are really serious consequences. That’s without getting into anything financial, which is of less importance. This is going to cause harm.”

Olympics uniforms, some delegations delayed by travel outages

Outage affects doctor’s offices across the UK

In the UK, GP doctors’ surgeries have said they are unable to access patient records or book appointments. Sky News was off air for a few hours but resumed broadcasting, while Britain’s biggest rail company warned passengers to expect disruption because of “widespread IT issues”.

Around the world, banks, supermarkets, airlines, and other major institutions reported computer problems disrupting their services.

Directing airport authorities and airlines to be compassionate and provide extra seating: Civil Aviation minister Naidu

Minister of Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu stated, “I have directed airport authorities and airlines to be compassionate and provide extra seating, water, and food for passengers affected by delays. We understand your concerns and are working tirelessly to ensure your safe and swift travel. Your patience and cooperation are greatly appreciated.”

Microsoft, CloudStrike’s share prices suffer after global outage

Shares of CloudStrike, the cyber security firm linked to Microsoft’s IT outage, went down by 18.67%. Microsoft fared less badly and is down by only 2.5% in premarket trading. 

Union Minister Vaishnaw releases CERT-In advisory on the outage of Microsoft

Underlying cause has been fixed for Microsoft 365 apps, services, says Microsoft

Services affected in India due to Microsoft Outage

These are the major sectors in India affected by the outage:

1) Airlines: Several airlines in India reported that their systems across the network were impacted 

2) Microsoft Apps: Microsoft 365, Microsoft Team, and Microsoft Azure were among the services that were affected.

3) Instagram, Amazon: Some users faced issues while using the following apps: Instagram, Amazon, Gmail, the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bank of India, and HDFC Bank, as per Downdetector.

Hundreds wait for manual check-in at Hong Kong airport

192 IndiGo flights cancelled; refund and rebooking option 'unavailable' for now

Check list of cancelled flight HERE.

When will the issue be resolved?

As per Dr Mark Gregory, a network engineering expert at RMIT University, based in Australia, problems will be largely resolved by tomorrow morning, as per ABC News. As India is slightly ahead, we could expect things to be back to normal by today evening or later in the night.

"Software like CrowdStrike's Falcon platform are typically rolled out from a central part of an organisation," Dr Gregory said. "They have IT support teams … they should be able to quite quickly apply the patch.

"As we've heard, a problem exists if a computer has been turned off after the blue screen occurred, the computer will need to be turned back on so the patch can be applied. IT teams are going to be working late ... they'll need to apply the patch, then there'll be a lot of testing.

"I would expect by about midday tomorrow things should be pretty well back to normal," he added.

'Our government has no control over it, and it is a huge setback for our country': Indian cyber security expert

"People are suffering financial losses, and they are not able to get proper facilities at hospitals and airports. Emergency services have also been affected, especially in the US. In a country like India, only firms like Microsoft and Amazon are providing cloud services, and people are dependent only (on) them. The government has no control over it, and it is a huge setback for our country," said cyber expert Anuj Aggarwal on Microsoft outage.

London Stock Exchange says some services disrupted, but trading not affected

Indigo, Spice Jet, Akash Air move to manual check-ins in Kochi airport

Microsoft outage spares banking services in India

SBI says systems working fine, unaffected by Microsoft outage

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday said its systems are unaffected by the Microsoft global outage. "We are all fine," its chairman Dinesh Khara told PTI, when asked about the impact of the global outage. Microsoft users globally, several in India, have reported massive outages in services.

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Only 10 banks and NBFCs had minor disruptions which have either been resolved or are being resolved: RBI on Microsoft outage.

The Reserve Bank of India in response to the disruptions in Microsoft’s services said it has made an assessment of the impact of the outage on its Regulated Entities. 

“Critical systems of most banks are not in cloud and further, only a few banks are using the CrowdStrike tool. Our assessment shows that only 10 banks and NBFCs had minor disruptions which have either been resolved or are being resolved”, the bank said. 

The RBI further said that overall, the Indian financial sector in its domain remains insulated from the global outage. 

The Reserve Bank has issued an Advisory today to its Regulated Entities for taking necessary steps to remain alert and ensure operational resilience and continuity, it said. 

More than 100 flights cancelled at New York airports

Disruption could have been avoided: Cyber threat expert

"The massive outage in Microsoft systems caused by CrowdStrike updates was due to a compatibility issue between CrowdStrike's Falcon sensor and a Windows update ... Such incidents underscore the importance of rigorous compatibility testing between security solutions and operating system updates to prevent widespread disruptions. There are measures that can be put in place to avoid such disruptions," said cyber threat intelligence expert Kumar Ritesh, who is the CEO & Founder, CYFIRMA, to HT.

Air India requests passengers to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport

Flights of Vistara and Air India are flying (on time) but IndiGo is not flying: Passenger at Chandigarh airport

911 disruptions in the US

Alaska, Virginia and Iowa, warned of 911 problems in their areas in the US.

Alaska State Troopers warned that many 911 and non-emergency call centers across the state were not working correctly and shared alternate numbers for areas where 911 wasn’t working.

In Virginia, the City of Fairfax Police Department said on social media that it was experiencing technical difficulties with its phone systems, including 911. The department shared a non-emergency number for callers and said 911 could still be used, but calls would not go directly to the dispatch center.

The New Hampshire Emergency Services and Communications reported a temporary interruption early Friday. By 3:30 a.m., calls and texts to 911 were being received on a backup system and the system has been fully restored, officials said.

In Iowa, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office warned on social media that phone lines were down. The department said that 911 calls might be routed to neighboring counties, but emergency calls would be promptly redirected to the sheriff’s office.

90% Flights Disrupted In Bengaluru Terminal 1 Due To Microsoft Outage

Kaspersky calls Microsoft outage 'serious problem' as every device will have to be rebooted manually in safe mode

Kaspersky a global cybersecurity company said at this stage, it is difficult to estimate how long it will take to fix the issue, since the difficulty lies in the fact that when such a problem occurs, each device (computer, laptop or server) must be rebooted into safe mode manually; this cannot be done using management tools. This is indeed a very serious problem that has affected numerous processes, including those in critical infrastructure.

Maruti Suzuki says production briefly halted

Maruti Suzuki said it immediately initiated precautionary and remedial measures "and production/despatch operations were briefly halted".

Microsoft suggests 'switching it on and off' 15 TIMES

In fix on its website, Microsoft says, "We have received reports of successful recovery from some customers attempting multiple Virtual Machine restart operations on affected Virtual Machines. Customers can attempt to do so as follows:

• Using the Azure Portal - attempting 'Restart' on affected VMs

• Using the Azure CLI or Azure Shell (https://shell.azure.com)

We've received feedback from customers that several reboots (as many as 15 have been reported) may be required, but overall feedback is that reboots are an effective troubleshooting step at this stage."

Microsoft has also suggested deleting a certain file - the same solution some Crowdstrike employees have been giving on social media.

IndiGo has cancelled over 200 flights; no option to rebook or claim a refund

IndiGo has cancelled 283 flights, the airline said on its website. The airlines further shared that options to rebook/claim refunds would be “temporarily unavailable due to the cascading effect of the worldwide travel system outage”.

MEITY is continually in touch with Microsoft, which in turn is actively working with impacted entities: Ashwini Vaishnaw

"MEITY is continually in touch with Microsoft, which in turn is actively working with impacted entities. In addition, CERT-In is coordinating with CISOs of critical infrastructure entities. All impacted entities are working to bring up their systems. In many cases, systems are partially up," says Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Border crossings and healthcare affected in Canada

In Canada, the tech outage grounded some flights, disrupted hospitals and backed up border crossings on Friday, as per AP.

Windsor Police reported long delays at both the Canada-United States border crossings at the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

President Biden’s team is in touch with Crowdstrike

President Joe Biden has been briefed on the CrowdStrike outage and his team has been in touch with CrowdStrike and impacted entities, according to the White House.

Biden is getting continued updates throughout the day and the administration is “standing by to provide assistance as needed,” the White House said.

Kerala: Eight flights services at Kochi airport were delayed on Friday and three services each to Bengaluru and Hyderabad were cancelled. Three services at Thiruvananthapuram airport, including a Bengaluru service, were also cancelled.

Multiple US airlines resume operations

Operations in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru airports now under control, says IndiGo

IndiGo in a statement shared that following rapid steps taken by IndiGo teams to switch to manual and other backup systems, operations at major Indian airports including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are now under control.  

“IndiGo has activated ‘war rooms’ at 4 metro airports to manage operations. The airline’s staff are prioritizing passengers who have departures in the next 120 minutes, ensuring that flights can continue with minimal delays.”

Crowdstrike update was responsible for issues, confirms Microsoft

Microsoft spokesperson Frank X. Shaw has confirmed that “a Crowdstrike update was responsible for bringing down a number of Windows systems globally.”

“We are actively supporting customers to assist in their recovery,” he said in a statement.

Salaries in UK could be delayed: Global Payroll Association

Workers may experience a delay in their pay following the IT outage in the UK, a body representing payroll providers says.

Melanie Pizzey, the Global Payroll Association's chief executive, says the outage could have "serious implications for businesses" in the UK. She says the outage could lead to a backlog which may delay pay for employees who are paid weekly or monthly. "At best, it will require those managing payroll to work overtime to rectify the issue," she adds.

Crowdstrike shares open 15% down

Shares in Crowdstrike have opened nearly 15% down on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.

That's wiped about $12.5bn off the value of the cyber security company.

Tech expert Dan Ives, from Wedbush Securities, says: "Crowdstrike has a strong brand and global marketing presence which will need to go into next gear over the coming weeks and months to curtail some damage from this."

He says that despite the widespread problems its caused he still has a positive long term view of the company as an investment prospect.

'Black Swan' event: Cybersecurity expert

"This is a black swan event impacting not just businesses but the overall national machinery, and underscores how safeguarding entities against risk involves much more than technology. This development highlights how it is a misnomer that enhanced technology deployment alone will help organisations become more secure and ensure business continuity. While organisations work towards remediation of the current situation, the focus should be on rethinking risks and moving beyond the layers, patches, products and tools to building an inherently strong cyber architecture with complementary interventions that ensure resilience in the face of such unforeseen technology setbacks or failures," Sundareshwar K, Cybersecurity at PwC India, told HT.

Unaffected by outage, Wipro is 'ramping up' to help clients in US and Europe

Amid a massive global outage in Microsoft’s systems, IT major Wipro on July 19 said its own systems were not affected, and it is assisting clients in the US and Europe.

“One, no impact to Wipro. Two, we are actually talking to the clients, trying to step up and help them because we are following the sun model - Europe and the U.S. - and we are seeing the impact of cloud strike (there)...we are ramping up ourselves to help our clients,” said MD and CEO of Wipro, Srinivas Pallia. 

South African airports unaffected by global outage

The company that runs South Africa’s airports, which include some of the busiest on the African continent, says they have been unaffected by the global network outage.

Airports Company South Africa says it doesn’t use CrowdStrike services and operations are running as normal.

'Deeply sorry' says CrowdStrike CEO

“We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our companies,” CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on NBC’s 'Today Show' on Friday.

“We know what the issue is…” he added.

He said the system was sent an update and the update had a bug in it causing the dreaded Microsoft’s 'BSOD' of 'Blue Screen of Death' on the Windows operating system.

“It was only the Microsoft operating system (that was affected) though... it didn’t happen on every Microsoft Windows system," he said.

More than 3,300 flights cancelled worldwide

Around 3,340 flights have been cancelled worldwide, or about 3% of all scheduled services, according to aviation data company Cirium.

This is the total number of cancellations, meaning some may not be due to the IT outage.

Crowdstrike customers 'remain fully protected': CrowdStrike CEO

Crowdstrike's chief executive George Kurtz said the company's customers "remain fully protected" despite the ongoing IT outage. Earlier, he said a fix had been issued but that it could be "some time" before all systems are back up and running.

'Working closely with CrowdStrike and across the industry to safely bring their systems back online: CEO Satya Nadella

“Yesterday, CrowdStrike released an update that began impacting IT systems globally. 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,” tweets Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

Several Times Square billboards went dark after outage; ‘handful’ still remain offline

Some billboards in New York City’s famous Times Square went dark during the global tech outage.

Local media outlets and social media users shared images of the massive electronic screens switched off entirely and black early Friday morning.

Some Times Square billboards go 'offline' after outage

Income Tax portal remains insulated against impact of Microsoft outage in India

The income tax department portal did not face any major disruptions and worked fine despite the Microsoft global outage, the department and chartered accountants said.

“Don't think there are any issues at present,” Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said late in the evening on July 19, as per Moneycontrol.