The outage came as cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike experienced a major disruption early Friday following an issue with a recent tech update.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has since said that the company is “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts,” stressing that Mac and Linux hosts are not affected.
“This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” he said on social media.
The chaos affecting Microsoft Windows devices was attributed to a software update at cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, with CEO George Kurtz writing on LinkedIn that they are “deeply sorry” and “a fix has been deployed.”
By midday, more than 2,000 flights within, into and out of the U.S. were canceled, and another 6,100 were delayed; the FAA warned of continued disruptions this weekend.
Also impacted: parcel delivery, transit agencies, customers at TD Bank and court systems across the country.
LinkedIn parent Microsoft issued an explainer and workaround on Friday, while CEO Satya Nadella wrote on LinkedIn that the company is “working closely with CrowdStrike and across the industry” to provide guidance and support.
Most 911 and non-emergency call centers were restoring services after earlier outages, while many global health systems had to cancel non-urgent medical appointments and delay surgeries.
U.S.-based airlines were instructed by the Transportation Department on Friday to provide compensation to passengers impacted by flight disruptions stemming from the outage, The New York Times reported.
SOURCE – LINKEDIN