Microsoft Windows Outage: Global IT shutdown, aviation and healthcare sectors down

Microsoft Windows Outage: Global IT Shutdown Disrupts Aviation and Healthcare Sectors

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Omkar Devadkar

Last Updated: July 20, 2024

Summary: The big global IT outage on Thursday night affected thousands of devices worldwide. Several industries were badly hit, including healthcare and aviation.

On Friday, a significant IT error caused computer systems all across the world to break down. Businesses, banks, hospitals, and airports were badly impacted as computers stopped working or couldn't connect to networks. The primary cause has been an outage in Microsoft's cloud services and connected apps.

The incident disrupted travel, which has been identified as the most visible consequence of this global IT breakdown. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged that a CrowdStrike update affected the global IT networks hours after the event. He stated that the company and CrowdStrike were working together to find a solution.

Even the antivirus company CrowdStrike announced that a problem that triggered a worldwide IT outage affecting banks, media outlets, and airports has been fixed. The outage has affected stock exchanges, businesses, and airplane operations globally, causing a significant impact. The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) error is causing users' systems to abruptly shut down or restart.

US airlines reportedly had to cancel flights due to the Microsoft cloud outage, but the tech giant later claimed that the issue with its cloud services in the Central US region had been fixed.

Major Indian airlines experienced technical problems that caused nationwide flight delays. Passengers have to be manually checked in by the airlines. Banking services, trade platforms, and payment apps were also negatively impacted.

IndiGo confirmed in a post on X that the disruption was caused by the Microsoft outage, writing, "Our systems are now hampered by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other organizations. During this time, booking, check-in, access to your boarding card, and some flights may be affected. We appreciate your patience."

The failure of the cloud services also affected several international news broadcasters. One of the main television news outlets in Britain, Sky News, stated that they were unable to broadcast.