Businesses around the world are being hit by a serious issue caused by what appears to be a faulty CrowdStrike security update, which is causing Windows machines to appear with the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), and that is having a major domino effect with airlines, online services and even TV channels going down.
This has obviously caused huge concern around the world. The problem was first detected by Australian companies when Windows computers went offline and is now being detected in Europe.
Sky News in the UK has been down for a while and popular airline Ryanair has posted that “We are currently experiencing network-wide disruption due to a third-party global IT outage, which is completely outside of our control. Booking and check-in are currently unavailable.” Ryanair recommends that people planning to travel today check in at the airport, rather than trying to do so online.
Obviously we're not on air, we're trying 🤞@SkyNews Breakfast pic.twitter.com/ZKvVacRgUYJuly 19, 2024
We have a live blog collecting all developing news as it appears, and we'll update this page with everything we know about the issue and how it might affect you.
This story is in development
What's happening?
Millions of businesses around the world rely on Windows PCs, and in the early hours of July 19, widespread reports began to come in that many of these PCs used by major businesses were experiencing “blue screen of death” errors, taking services and systems offline.
Anyone who has used a Windows PC over the past 40 years will know that a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error can be pretty nasty – it basically forces the computer to stop what it’s doing and the only thing you can do is restart the PC and hope the problem doesn’t happen again. If it does, then the PC is in pretty bad shape and you’ll need to do some troubleshooting to try and fix the BSOD error.
This can be extremely frustrating for people who find that their Windows 11 PC or laptop can no longer function, but when PCs used by hospitals, airlines and banks start to be affected, things can get worse. In fact Bad. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case here.
Who is affected?
So who is affected by this service disruption? So far it looks like it's a huge number of people, with major businesses around the world affected, meaning thousands, if not millions, of customers, patients and anyone who relies on these services will be affected.
This could mean cancelled hospital appointments or delayed trains or planes. The repercussions could be very serious.
So far, it doesn't seem like personal computers running Windows 11 are affected. I'm writing this story from one of them, and so far, everything seems to be going well. Here are the companies and institutions that have confirmed they are affected so far:
- Microsoft
- Microsoft 365
- MGM bet
- Amazon
- Visa
- Sainsbury's
- Tesco
- Ryanair
- Sky News UK (back on air)
BREAKING: Airports, businesses, banks and broadcasters including Sky News are experiencing issues around the world following a massive IT outage. Follow the latest news and find out more about the companies that have been affected: Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/LqmYO0AAYsJuly 19, 2024
- BT
- Ladbrokes
- Santander
- Nationwide
- Royal Mail
- Southern Railway (UK)
⚠️ We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our network. Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the issue. We are unable to access driver diagrams in certain locations resulting in potential cancellations at short notice, and we are currently experiencing a number of issues.July 19, 2024
- Swiss International Airlines
SWISS flight operations are affected due to IT disruptions at partner organisations and air traffic control. We ask our passengers to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport. pic.twitter.com/ffoNVWngZyJuly 19, 2024
- National Pharmacy Association (UK)
- University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)
- Berlin Airport BER
- KLM
KLM and other airlines and airports have been affected by a global IT outage, making flight management impossible. We are aware that this is very inconvenient for our customers and staff, especially in the middle of the summer holiday season. We are working hard to resolve the issue… pic.twitter.com/O4gm7u0DIWJuly 19, 2024
