Massive Microsoft outage triggers global chaos: affected organisations issue instructions and netizens share funny memes

July 19 recorded a massive global IT failure that grounded planes, knocked out TV coverage and severely affected hospitals, banks and financial markets. Flights got delayed, card machines broke and the London Stock Exchange took a huge hit.

The chaos unfolding across the globe appeared to be linked to a cyber security company called Crowdstrike, whose software runs on Microsoft Windows. “This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” the company’s president George Kurtz informed on X.

Crowdstrike said the “defect” in a Microsoft update was confined to Windows software and did not affect Mac or Linux users. Shares in both companies dropped on Friday but traders generally remained calm throughout the period of disturbance.

Microsoft outage hits UAE

Dubai International Airport took to X later in the day to inform that operations have got back to normal. The global system outage affected the check-in process for some airlines in Terminals 1 and 2. The affected airlines promptly shifted to an alternate system.

The UAE Foreign Ministry also informed on the platform that the global technical issue has affected some of its electronic systems, including attestation service. The post advised users to avoid conducting any transactions until the issue is resolved.

The UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority also reported of the “technical defect”. The Cyber Security Council confirmed that “there are currently no indications of cyber intrusions or attacks resulting from the global technical issue.”

Users encounter ‘blue screen of death’ globally

1. Britain’s biggest train company raised concerns over expected disruption due to “widespread IT issues”

2. Manchester United announced postponing of the release of football tickets, as several other clubs reported problems

3. Organisers of Paris 2024 Olympic Games said their IT systems also got hurt

4. Hospitals in Germany cancelled elective operations scheduled for Friday

5. London Stock Exchange said its Regulatory News Service has been affected due to a “third-party global technical issue”

6. Long queues formed at airports across the globe. Several airlines took a hit at the peak of Summer travel season

7. Russian banks and currency traders faced a few problems after Moscow was partly cut off from global markets under sanctions.

Funny memes flood the internet