Mass IT outages are affecting various sectors.

Reports indicate that multiple airports globally are announcing delays, with some flights suspended. Broadcasters and banks are experiencing disruptions. Sky News in the UK is off-air – it resumed broadcasting very briefly, but is now once again displaying a slate apologising “for the interruption to this broadcast.”

Microsoft is taking “mitigation actions” following service issues that started on Thursday evening. The company is investigating issues with cloud services in the US and several of its apps and services.

Disruptions have hit Edinburgh Airport due to a computer error causing departure screens to malfunction. The main terminal’s departure boards froze, displaying outdated gate numbers and takeoff times, leading to missed flights for some passengers.

Additionally, a fire alarm in the terminal building sounded earlier this morning, believed to have been triggered by the same issue. Edinburgh Airport is actively working to resolve the problem.

Major US airlines, including United and Delta, have issued a global ground stop on all flights. Airports, shops, and communications in Australia are also affected, with the National Cyber Security Coordinator describing it as a “large-scale technical outage.”

GPs in England are facing significant disruptions due to issues with the EMIS Web system, which is used for managing appointments and patient records. Grimethorpe Surgery in Barnsley reported a “major issue” with no access to the clinical system, while Church Lane Surgery in Brighouse stated their system has been down since 7am, preventing them from booking appointments or accessing patient records.

Central Lakes Medical Group in Ambleside and Solihull Healthcare Partnership in the West Midlands also confirmed being impacted by the IT outage.

As a result, GPs at certain practices can only see acutely unwell patients and must handwrite notes and prescriptions, asking others to call back later.

In Sydney, departure boards went blank at the airport, with Jetstar unable to check passengers in and Virgin Australia announcing a “total ground stop.” However, Virgin Australia has resumed boarding flights. Edinburgh airport is experiencing disruptions with frozen departure screens and a fire alarm triggered by the same computer error.

Ryanair has warned of potential disruptions across its network due to a third-party outage and advises passengers to check their app for updates. Telstra Group in Australia is facing disruption due to global issues allegedly affecting CrowdStrike and Microsoft, causing delays for some customers.

Recommended reading

• What Cybersecurity Trends are Emerging in 2024?
• 90% of Cyber Threats Rely on Social Engineering
• NHS Dumfries and Galloway Stolen Data Published on Dark Web

Reports have surfaced indicating that a software update from cybersecurity company Crowdstrike, known for its antivirus software, is causing severe issues by rendering Windows devices inoperable and prompting the infamous “blue screen of death” on PCs.

It remains unclear whether this issue is related to other ongoing IT disruptions or if it’s an unfortunate coincidence of multiple major problems occurring simultaneously. Either way, it appears to be causing significant disruptions.