Massive IT Outage Causes Chaos Worldwide

The infamous "blue screen of death" appeared on machines worldwide using Windows on Friday amid a mass outage that affected airlines and banks, among many other businesses and institutions. The BBC reports that United, Delta, and American Airlines have issued a "global ground stop" on all flights. Police in Alaska said many 911 and non-emergency call centers "are not working correctly" across the state. In the UK, some retailers had to go cash-only and the last day of school was canceled for some students.

• The cause. According to the Verge, a "faulty update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike is knocking affected PCs and servers offline." Businesses in Australia were the first to raise the alarm.
• Statement from CrowdStrike. CEO George Kurtz said the company "is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts." He added: "This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed."

• Microsoft says situation is improving. In posts on X, Microsoft said it was fixing an issue affecting Microsoft 365 apps and services, the AP reports. The company said it was "observing a positive trend in service availability" after "rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact."
• Broadcasters taken off air. The outage affected broadcasters including Sky News in the UK, the Guardian reports. "We're obviously not on air – we're trying," sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao said in a post on X. Broadcasters in countries including France and Australia were also hit.
• Travel chaos. Airports in many cities, including Tokyo, Sydney, and Amsterdam, reported delays and other issues, reports Reuters. In the US, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority delayed the start of train service.
• Thousands stranded at US airports. The New York Times reports that airports across the US "slowly descended into chaos" early Friday, with ground stops issued for Allegiant Air, American, Delta, Spirit, and United flights. Airlines said they would try to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. "The general mood is that people are finding a quiet corner and just trying to hunker down," said Frank Tingley, one of thousands stranded at Denver International Airport.

(This story has been updated with new developments.)