On the 19th (local time), the screen at Times Square in New York, USA, is turned off. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]
On the 19th (local time), the Microsoft (MS) logo appeared on the Times Square screen in New York, USA. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]
A major IT outage originating from Microsoft (MS) paralyzed key industries and services including aviation, finance, media, and apparel logistics. The disruption affected both nations and corporations, with blue screens appearing on billboards in New York's Times Square, among other incidents.
According to major foreign media on the 19th (local time), the IT outage began at 7 PM GMT on the 18th. The incident was caused by a conflict between the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike's security program and the MS Windows operating system (OS).
In Times Square, a landmark in Manhattan, New York, large electronic billboards displayed blue screens and then went completely dark in the early hours of the 19th. Starbucks temporarily suspended mobile ordering and payment services.
The aviation sector suffered significant damage. According to the aviation analytics company Cirium, over 5,000 of more than 110,000 scheduled commercial flights worldwide on the 19th were canceled. The number of canceled flights is expected to increase.
According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, Delta Air Lines was the hardest hit airline in this incident. Delta canceled 20% of its flights and additional cancellations and delays are expected over the weekend.
Due to the inability to issue online tickets and check-in, major airports in the United States, Singapore, Germany, and other countries have resorted to issuing handwritten boarding passes.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg expressed hope that flight operations would normalize by the 20th.
Financial institutions were also affected. Employees at JPMorgan Chase, Nomura Holdings, and Bank of America were temporarily unable to log into company systems. Haitong Securities' trading system was unavailable for three hours.
JPMorgan Chase experienced ATM malfunctions, which reportedly returned to normal operation from that night. The London Stock Exchange's news service, RNS, was temporarily suspended, and Australia's largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, faced issues with its transfer services.
Additionally, emergency medical services encountered difficulties, and the logistics, automotive, and media industries also experienced widespread disruptions.
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