BREAKING: Widespread IT failure grounds flights, disrupts banking services

A widespread global cyber outage has disrupted operations in sectors including airline services, banking, and other industries in countries like Singapore, the United States, and Australia.

The extensive IT disruption, which commenced early Friday, has impacted numerous airlines, banks, and media outlets worldwide.

Numerous airports and airlines reported IT system issues, resulting in grounded flights and service interruptions. Notably, Sydney airport has seen flights halted, United Airlines has ceased operations, and the London Stock Exchange Group’s platform has encountered disruptions.

In Germany, Berlin airport experienced IT problems, causing delays in check-ins due to technical faults.

Sky News has also gone off-air because of the outage. Sky News executive chairman David Rhodes confirmed the channel’s inability to broadcast live and apologized to viewers via social media. He assured that online news reports remain available and that efforts are underway to restore full services.

The disruption is linked to issues with Microsoft internet services and CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity software firm.

Rail transportation has not been spared, as the UK’s Govia Thameslink Railway reported widespread IT issues across its network, leading to potential cancellations and delays. The company is actively investigating the root cause and has urged passengers to check their journeys before traveling.

Australia’s Telstra Group also reported service disruptions due to the global issues affecting CrowdStrike and Microsoft.

Microsoft attributed the outage to a configuration change in a portion of its Azure backend workloads, which caused connectivity failures affecting Microsoft 365 services. The affected services include PowerBI, Microsoft Teams, and OneDrive for Business, among others. The tech giant is working on mitigation efforts and has already restored some services.

This global IT outage highlights the interconnected nature of modern digital infrastructures and the widespread impact that technical disruptions can have across various industries.