Businesses including banks, airlines, train companies, telecommunications companies, TV and radio broadcasters, and supermarkets have been affected by a mass global IT outage.
Major US airlines including American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines have been grounded, while airports in Germany, Amsterdam and Spain are also reporting issues.
It is believed the outage is related to an issue at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike and Microsoft – although it is unknown if it is the same issue affecting airports and train services across the globe. Microsoft said on Friday morning it was continuing to address the “lingering impact” of its 365 applications and services that are in a “degraded state” while Crowdstrike said in an automated message that it was aware of reports of crashes.
These outages are increasing in volume due to the sheer increase in numbers of online users and traffic. After witnessing the blue screen of death (BSOD), many people are quick to suspect a cyberattack or find similarities to Netflix’s Leave The World Behind but this can often add to the confusion. It highlights the importance of these services and the millions of people they serve.
Businesses must test their infrastructure and have multiple fail safes in place, however large the company is, this is typically referred to as a cyber-resilience plan. But as often it is with the case, it is simply impossible to simulate the size and magnitude of the issue in a safe environment without testing the actual network.
The inconvenience caused by the loss of access to services for thousands of people serves as a reminder of our dependence Big Tech such as Microsoft in running our daily lives and businesses. Upgrades and maintenance to systems and networks can unintentionally include small errors, which can have wide-reaching consequences as experienced today by Crowdstrike’s customers. Another aspect of this incident relates to “diversity” in the use of large-scale IT infrastructure. This applies to critical systems like operating systems (OSes), cybersecurity products and other globally deployed (scaled) applications. Where diversity is low, a single technical incident, not to mention a security issue, can lead to global-scale outages with subsequent knock-on effects.
ESET Ireland 