New York City, United States – A widespread internet disruption caused by a faulty software update has led to grounded flights, offline banks, and disrupted media outlets across the globe. The unprecedented outage, triggered by a software update from US cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, affected computers running Microsoft Windows. The so-called “blue screen of death” left travelers at JFK and LaGuardia airports stranded, with major airline carriers including American, Delta, and United being impacted.
According to tech expert Troy Hunt, this incident could be the largest IT outage in history. Although Microsoft claimed to have fixed the underlying cause of the global outage, some Office 365 apps and services were still affected by cybersecurity outages. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz clarified that it was not a security incident or a cyberattack, but rather a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.
The disruption had a significant impact on airports, with LaGuardia canceling 60 flights and JFK experiencing delays and cancellations. Long lines formed as airlines lost access to check-in and booking services during the peak of summer travel. The Mass General Brigham health care system in Massachusetts even had to cancel non-urgent surgeries and medical visits due to the severity of the global IT outage.
New York City’s chief technology officer, Matthew C. Fraser, stated that while critical systems such as 911 and traffic management were not affected, this was the first time such a massive disruption had occurred. Airlines, hospitals, and news outlets around the world also reported delays, disruptions, and outages. Banks and financial services companies from New Zealand to Germany warned customers of disruptions to their payment systems and websites.
Overall, the global internet disruption caused by the faulty software update created widespread chaos and highlighted the vulnerability of interconnected systems.