Microsoft global outage affects 911 lines, airports, banks
Europe woke up to technological chaos on Friday as Microsoft’s massive, ongoing global IT outage hits airports, airlines, banks and broadcasters around the world. The problem appears to be with Microsoft 365 services and apps, which many businesses and organizations rely on as part of their critical internet infrastructure. Perhaps most worrying of all, many states in the U.S. have reported that their 911 emergency numbers are down.
Microsoft said on X that it was aware of an issue impacting users’ ability to access 365 services late Thursday. The latest update was issued around 4 AM ET/1 AM PT, when it said“Multiple services are seeing improvements in availability as our mitigations progress.” The company did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The outage, which also took down the London Stock Exchange, has been linked to a faulty update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which powers many Windows PCs and services around the world. The last time there was such a widespread internet outage was when a service called Fastly went down in 2021. It’s a reminder of how much the internet is underpinned by shared infrastructure, making it vulnerable to widespread problems like this.
Across the US, state troopers reported that 911 lines were out of service starting in 1999. Alaska. Unconfirmed reports suggest that some lines in Minnesota, Arizona, Indiana, Ohio, and New Hampshire were also affected. If you live in one of these states, contact your local state trooper or police department for alternate emergency numbers.
Alaska State Troopers have posted alternate emergency numbers on Facebook.
Airports from India to the UK reported problems in the early hours of Friday morning, particularly with their scanning technology, which failed to register passengers’ boarding passes. Airlines including European budget carrier Ryanair reported problems with online check-in. Ryanair advised all passengers to arrive at least three hours early for their flight.
In the US, the Federal Aviation Authority has a number of flights grounded from American Airlines and Delta. Most US airlines have not yet started at the time of writing, but it may be wise for passengers flying out of US airports today to arrive earlier than usual to allow extra time to check in.
Many television stations around the world have been affected by the outage, with Sky News in the UK broadcasting via a telephone after its studio equipment broke down.
This story is still developing. Check back later for more information…
