July 19th 2024.
According to Australian authorities, it may take several days for the global technology outage to be fully resolved. This unprecedented disruption has caused flights to be grounded, banks and hospitals to go offline, and has been described as the largest IT outage ever experienced. The root cause of this massive disruption was a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which affected computers worldwide that run on Microsoft Windows. The company has clarified that this was not a cyberattack or hacking incident, and has apologized for the inconvenience caused. They have assured that a fix is on the way.
To help us better understand this situation, let's break it down. First, let's take a look at what we know about the IT outage. Then, we'll explore how it has impacted Australians, from stranded travelers to everyday activities like getting groceries and using online banking. We'll also touch on the emergency meeting held by the Australian government, where officials were briefed by CrowdStrike. Hamish Hansford, the government's Cyber and Infrastructure Security deputy secretary, has reassured citizens that there is no need to panic, but it could take a few more days for the issue to be completely resolved. He also mentioned that technical teams are already working on a solution.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also addressed the country's concerns over the outage, stating that the government is closely collaborating with the National Cyber Security Coordinator. He has assured that there is no impact on critical infrastructure, government services, or emergency services at this stage. However, there have been reports from Victoria Emergency that fire alarms were not automatically calling firefighters, and citizens were urged to dial triple zero instead.
The impact of this IT outage has been felt by various companies and services, from supermarkets and media outlets to financial service providers and airports. Even our own website, 9news.com.au, was affected, and we were unable to publish any stories. It wasn't until midnight that some Australian airlines were able to confirm that their systems were back up and running. However, Sydney Airports experienced issues with their check-in systems for a few hours. Jetstar even had to cancel all their flights in Australia and New Zealand until 2am, but all airlines are confident that things will return to normal by Saturday.
The impact of the outage has also been seen in grocery stores and banks, where customers were unable to use self-service checkouts or make online payments. Coles and Woolworths have reported that all but six stores were open and trading, with fewer registers available than usual. They have thanked customers for their patience and mentioned that a small number of online orders could not be fulfilled. Similarly, Commbank has stated that their online banking customers were unable to make PayID payments. This IT outage has also affected businesses, big and small, as they were unable to use their Windows operating systems, Microsoft 365 applications, and Xero.
This issue has not just impacted Australia, but it has caused a global disruption as well. The London Stock Exchange systems were down, and in the US, major airlines like United, American, Delta, and Allegiant were all grounded. However, personal use computers are not affected, according to technology expert Trevor Long.
Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator, Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness, has also reassured citizens that there is no evidence of a cyberattack causing this outage. She stated that it appears to be a technical issue with a third-party software platform used by affected companies. Trevor Long also shared his insights on the matter, stating that it seems like computers impacted by this outage have entered fail-safe mode. He has also mentioned that Australia is the most affected timezone, and it could take several more hours for the issue to be resolved. He explained that this is a software issue that needs to be fixed and then rolled out.
Now, some of you may be wondering, what is CrowdStrike? Toby Murray, a cybersecurity expert from the University of Melbourne, has shed some light on this. He explained that CrowdStrike is a global company that specializes in cybersecurity and threat intelligence. Their Falcon platform is an Endpoint Detection and Response system that monitors computers for any potential intrusions and responds to them. Murray also mentioned that if there is a malfunction in this platform, it could cause a widespread outage because it is widely used and has privileged access. He also compared it to anti-virus software, which is regularly updated to protect against the latest online threats. He suggested that this outage could have been caused by a buggy update to the Falcon platform.
On the other hand, Microsoft has reported that their Azure cloud software experienced an outage for some customers in the Central US region. They have identified the cause and are working on a fix. At the time of writing, there have been reports that some systems are slowly coming back online, including those at Sydney Airport.
In conclusion, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neill has confirmed that CrowdStrike has attended the federal government's National Coordination Mechanism meeting to assure them that there is no evidence of a cyberattack. While this IT outage has caused major disruptions, the government and technical teams are working together to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. They have also advised citizens to remain calm and assured that there is no impact on critical services. We will continue to provide updates as the situation develops.
According to Australian authorities, it may take several days before the recent global technology outage is completely resolved. This unprecedented disruption has caused flights to be grounded and has affected the functioning of banks and hospital systems worldwide. It has been described as the largest IT outage ever experienced.
The root cause of this massive disruption was a faulty software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which affected computers running on the Microsoft Windows operating system. CrowdStrike has assured that this was not a hacking incident or cyberattack and has apologized for the inconvenience caused. They have also stated that a fix is currently being worked on.
In response to the situation, the Australian government held an emergency meeting where they were briefed by CrowdStrike. Hamish Hansford, the deputy secretary of Cyber and Infrastructure Security, reassured the public that there is no need to panic, but also mentioned that it may take a few days for the issue to be completely resolved. He added that technical measures are already in place to address the problem.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also acknowledged the concern of the nation regarding the outage and assured that the government is working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator. He stated that at this point, there is no impact on critical infrastructure, government services, or emergency services.
While the situation is being closely monitored, there have been some reports of impacts on certain services. Victoria Emergency reported that fire alarms were not automatically notifying firefighters and urged the public to call emergency services directly. Additionally, supermarkets, media outlets, financial service providers, and airports were also affected. Even 9news.com.au was unable to publish stories.
It was only at midnight that some Australian airlines were able to confirm that their systems were back up and running. However, Sydney Airports experienced issues with check-in systems for several hours. Jetstar even had to cancel all flights in Australia and New Zealand until 2 am, but the airlines are confident that things will return to normal by Saturday.
Apart from airlines, even grocery stores and banks were impacted by the outage. Customers at some major Coles and Woolworths stores were unable to use the self-service checkouts and had to rely on manned registers. Woolworths has stated that all stores, except six, were open and trading with fewer registers available than usual. They have also thanked customers for their patience during this time. However, a small number of online orders could not be fulfilled.
Businesses, both small and large, were also affected as they were unable to use Windows operating systems, Microsoft 365 applications, and Xero. The impact was not just limited to Australia, as the BBC reported that the London Stock Exchange systems were also down. In the US, airlines like United, American, Delta, and Allegiant were all grounded.
Technology expert Trevor Long has mentioned that personal computers will not be impacted by the outage. He also reassured that there is no evidence to suggest that this is a cyberattack. He added that computers impacted by the outage seem to have gone into fail-safe mode. Long also mentioned that Australia is among the most affected due to the time zone differences and that the outage may last for several more hours.
According to Long, CrowdStrike Falcon, a cybersecurity platform, has been linked to the widespread outage. This global company is responsible for Endpoint Detection and Response, which monitors computers for intrusions and responds to them. If Falcon is experiencing a malfunction, it could potentially cause a widespread outage due to its widespread deployment and privileged nature. Long also compared Falcon to anti-virus software, which is regularly updated to protect against online threats. He speculated that a buggy update to Falcon may have caused the outage.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has acknowledged the issue on its Azure cloud software status report site. They have stated that some customers in the Central US region experienced service failures and disruptions. The company has identified the cause and is currently working on a fix. There have been reports of some systems slowly coming back online, including the systems at Sydney Airport.
In a statement, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neill mentioned that CrowdStrike had attended a meeting with the federal government's National Coordination Mechanism earlier in the evening. They have reassured that there is no evidence of a cyberattack, and the situation is being closely monitored.
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