It could take “weeks” to fix a global IT outage that grounded more than 5,000 flights, an expert has warned, as the full impact of the software bug becomes clear.
The outage spread globally on Friday morning after an update from global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike knocked many Microsoft Windows PCs offline with a “blue screen of death” appearing on the screens.
The problem caused travel cancellations and left NHS systems inaccessible.
The company’s founder later confirmed that it was caused by a bug in the update and not a cyberattack, as some feared.
Follow live: Main services affected by the global outage
George Kurtz said that although a fix has been implemented, it will take “some time” for all systems to return to normal and an industry expert warned that it could take “weeks” for a full recovery.
Adam Leon Smith of BCS, Chartered Institute for IT, said: “The fix will have to be applied to many computers around the world.
“So if computers have blue screens and endless loops, it could be more difficult and take days and weeks.”
When the disruption became apparent on Friday morning, airlines around the world warned that delays were coming – and cancellations soon followed, on what should have been the busiest day of the year so far for air travel. in the United Kingdom.
Queues snaked around terminal buildings and passengers reported three-hour waits at some UK airports as systems including check-in, eGates and departure boards failed.
See more information:
What we know so far
Services affected by the outage
Passengers at Stansted Airport waited outside the terminal on the UK’s hottest day of the year so far. Photo: PA
Passengers queue at the Ryanair check-in counter in Stansted. Photo: PA
As of 8 p.m., 5,078 flights had been grounded worldwide – equating to 4.6% of all scheduled flights worldwide, according to an aviation analytics company.
Cirium Data added that 167 flights that were due to depart from UK airports have been canceled so far – representing 5.4% of departures – while 171 arrivals have been cancelled.
Meanwhile, employees were left writing boarding passes by hand and using whiteboards to display departure information while trying to keep passengers moving.
The NHS has been hit by the disruption, as “the majority of GP practices” in England and two-thirds of those in Northern Ireland were affected, while South Western Railway said its ticket vending machines had failed.
Customers also reported problems with supermarket payments, online banking and communications systems including Microsoft Teams.
What did CrowdStrike say?
Speaking on NBC’s Today Show on Friday, CrowdStrike boss Mr. Kurtz said: “We deeply regret the impact we have had on customers, travelers and anyone affected by this.”
IT Outages: CrowdStrike CEO Apologizes
“A lot of our customers are restarting the system and it’s working because we fixed it,” he continued.
“We are working with some of the systems that are not recovering, so it may take some time for some systems that simply do not recover automatically, but it is our mission to ensure that all customers are fully recovered. “
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
