Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (2024)

Table of Contents
Summary Live Reporting Signs chaos is lifting, but how long will impacts remain?published at 22:49 19 July22:49 19 July Mass IT outage stalls airlines, hospitals, media and banks - the key things to knowpublished at 22:43 19 July22:43 19 July In pictures: People bed down for the night in airportspublished at 22:39 19 July22:39 19 July Watch: Blue screens, queues and airport delays worldwidepublished at 22:17 19 July22:17 19 July United says flights resumed - but further disruption expectedpublished at 22:01 19 July22:01 19 July Outside Crowdstrike's head office, we can only guess at atmosphere insidepublished at 21:42 19 July21:42 19 July Nothing is more important than customer trust - Crowdstrike CEOpublished at 21:25 19 July21:25 19 July More than 5,000 flights cancelled globallypublished at 21:07 19 July21:07 19 July Watch: Skies clear over US as IT outage hits airlinespublished at 20:54 19 July20:54 19 July How badly were UK supermarkets affected?published at 20:31 19 July20:31 19 July Billboards in Times Square go blankpublished at 20:18 19 July20:18 19 July Disruption at airports across the world – in picturespublished at 20:04 19 July20:04 19 July What is Crowdstrike?published at 19:48 19 July19:48 19 July Ambulance services report surge in demandpublished at 19:30 19 July19:30 19 July Gatwick expects most flights to 'operate as usual' tomorrowpublished at 19:13 19 July19:13 19 July Big firms back online while disruption continues for smaller businessespublished at 19:10 19 July19:10 19 July National Cyber Security Centre warns of rise in phishing incidentspublished at 18:47 19 July18:47 19 July Happy hens fly out for party after IT issues split grouppublished at 18:32 19 July18:32 19 July Watch: Tech outage leaves US passengers strandedpublished at 18:12 19 July18:12 19 July More than 4,200 flights cancelled worldwide - Ciriumpublished at 17:54 19 July17:54 19 July FAQs

Summary

  • The boss of the cybersecurity firm responsible for worldwide IT outages admits it could be "some time" before all systems are back up and running

  • While the software bug has been fixed, experts say the manual reboot of each affected Microsoft computer will take a huge amount of work

  • Thousands of flights have been cancelled, with banking, healthcare and payment systems all affected

  • In the UK, GPs have been struggling to access records, pharmacies have been hit and TV channels knocked off air

Live Reporting

Edited by Emily Atkinson

  1. Signs chaos is lifting, but how long will impacts remain?published at 22:49 19 July

    22:49 19 July

    Emily Atkinson
    Live page editor

    It remains a little unclear exactly what caused the global IT outage that grounded thousands of flights, stalled banking and healthcare services, and badly hit other sectors today.

    While there are signs of the chaos lifting, the question over quite how long the impacts persist remains - Crowdstrike says it could take "some time".

    We're ending our live coverage now, but there's plenty on offer across the BBC to keep you updated in our absence:

    • What caused the outage? And when will it be fixed? We answer the key questions here
    • Blue screens, queues and airport delays worldwide. This minute-long video takes you through the main developments
    • Has your flight been disrupted? Keep handy our guide to refunds, compensation and more
    • Over on Newscast, Adam Fleming, Faisal Islam and Joe Tidy have been untangling the flawed Crowdstrike update
    • Our technology editor Zoe Kleinman asks: was this the biggest outage ever? Check out her verdict
    • Still after live updates? Follow our continuing live coverage here

    This page was edited by Dulcie Lee, Aoife Walsh, Owen Amos, Barbara Tasch and Emily Atkinson. The writers were Ben Hatton, Seher Asaf, Rachel Flynn, Jamie Whitehead, Sofia Ferreira Santos, Anna Boyd, Shanaz Musafer and Hollie Cole.

  2. Mass IT outage stalls airlines, hospitals, media and banks - the key things to knowpublished at 22:43 19 July

    22:43 19 July

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (1)Image source, EPA

    Before we pack up for the night, here's digest of the key developments from across today:

    • A massive tech failure has caused travel chaos around the world, with banking and healthcare services also badly hit
    • Thousands of flights have been grounded because of the IT outage - a flaw which left many computers displaying blue error screens
    • There were long queues, delays and flight cancellations at airports around the world, as passengers had to be manually checked in
    • Cyber-security firm Crowdstrike has admitted that the problem was caused by an update to its antivirus software, which is designed to protect Microsoft Windows devices from malicious attacks
    • Crowdstrike has said it has fixed the update, but admitted it could be "some time" before all systems are back up and running
  3. In pictures: People bed down for the night in airportspublished at 22:39 19 July

    22:39 19 July

    Latest figures show more than 5,000 flights were cancelled worldwide following the global IT outage, which also caused major delays.

    While queues continue to grow at some airports, for many passengers whose flights have been disrupted it's now a matter of finding a spot to bed down for the night.

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (2)Image source, EPA

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (3)Image source, EPA

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (4)Image source, Reuters

  4. Watch: Blue screens, queues and airport delays worldwidepublished at 22:17 19 July

    22:17 19 July

    A massive tech failure has caused travel chaos around the world, with banking and healthcare services also badly hit.

    We've wrapped up the key developments from across the day here:

  5. United says flights resumed - but further disruption expectedpublished at 22:01 19 July

    22:01 19 July

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (5)Image source, Reuters

    United Airlines says it has resumed some flights.

    But the US airline says it expects schedule disruption throughout the day as it continues "to troubleshoot many systems and programs".

    For those travelling today, it says it has issued a "travel waiver" to make it easier for passengers to change their plans.

  6. Outside Crowdstrike's head office, we can only guess at atmosphere insidepublished at 21:42 19 July

    21:42 19 July

    Emma Vardy
    Reporting from Austin, Texas

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (6)

    We’re in Austin, Texas outside the innocuous looking office block at the heart of the global IT meltdown.

    In contrast to the chaos at airports, the main offices of Crowdstrike have very little visible activity.

    No sign of any stressed employees frantically running to their desks, but we can only guess at the atmosphere inside.

    Crowdstrike has a lot of questions to answer.

    The news crews who were here earlier have hurried off to cover the human scenes of chaos and disruption elsewhere.

    The CEO of Crowdstrike has turned down our request for an interview but has been on the airwaves on the American business news channel CNBC, promising that it will make sure that all customers recover from the outage.

  7. Nothing is more important than customer trust - Crowdstrike CEOpublished at 21:25 19 July

    21:25 19 July

    Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz says "nothing is more important" to him than the trust and confidence of the cybersecurity firm's customers and partners.

    In a letter, external sent to its customers and partners, Kurtz apologises for the global IT outage and says Crowdstrike "understands the gravity and impact of the situation".

    "We are working closely with impacted customers and partners to ensure that all systems are restored, so you can deliver the services your customers rely on," he says.

    He urges people to only engage with official Crowdstrike representatives, adding that "bad actors" will try to "exploit" the situation.

    "As we resolve this incident, you have my commitment to provide full transparency on how this occurred and steps we’re taking to prevent anything like this from happening again."

  8. More than 5,000 flights cancelled globallypublished at 21:07 19 July

    21:07 19 July

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (7)Image source, PA Media

    The number of flights cancelled across the world after major IT disruption has risen to 5,078 – 4.6% of those scheduled – according to the latest update from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

    In the UK, 167 departures have been cancelled – 5.4% of those scheduled – and 171 arrivals were cancelled, the firm says.

  9. Watch: Skies clear over US as IT outage hits airlinespublished at 20:54 19 July

    20:54 19 July

    Several US airlines, including American, United and Delta, issued ground stops – an air traffic control measure that slows or grounds aircraft at a given airport – earlier as IT outages caused disruption across the globe.

    This timelapse from flight-tracking website Flightradar24 below shows just how many flights were impacted.

  10. How badly were UK supermarkets affected?published at 20:31 19 July

    20:31 19 July

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (8)Image source, Reuters

    Payment systems have been among the IT systems impacted by today's disruption.

    Morrisons said this morning it was experiencing “some issues” with payments in some stores, but around 40 minutes after it issued an update saying the problems had been fully resolved.

    Posts on social media suggested some Waitrose stores were only taking cash payments for a time this morning.

    The supermarket said it was briefly impacted earlier in the day, but it said this was limited to stores being unable to process contactless card payments, with chip and pin and cash payments still possible.

    Asda, M&S, Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury’s, Iceland and Lidl all said their stores operated as normal.

    Co-op said it didn't experience any significant impact, and that cash and card payments were running as normal.

  11. Billboards in Times Square go blankpublished at 20:18 19 July

    20:18 19 July

    We can bring you some images now from New York City's Times Square, where some billboards went blank during today's IT outage.

    Photos show black screens and "the blue screen of death" in place of the vibrant advertisements that typically light up the area.

    Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, says a “handful” of the more than 100 billboards in the area remained offline earlier on Friday, AP reports.

    He added that it's unclear whether all the blackouts were related to the outage.

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (9)Image source, Getty Images

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (10)Image source, Getty Images

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (11)Image source, Getty

  12. Disruption at airports across the world – in picturespublished at 20:04 19 July

    20:04 19 July

    We've seen over the last couple of hours that some airline services are beginning to return to normal following disruption.

    Several say they expect delays and cancellations to persist through the weekend – and the latest images we've seen from airports around the globe suggest the long waits, at least for now, are here to stay:

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (12)Image source, EPA

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (13)Image source, Reuters

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (14)Image source, Reuters

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (15)Image source, EPA

  13. Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (16)

    What is Crowdstrike?published at 19:48 19 July

    19:48 19 July

    Liv McMahon
    Technology reporter

    Crowdstrike is a cybersecurity company foundedin 2011 with the aim of safeguarding the world’s biggest companies and hardwarefrom cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

    It specialises in endpoint security protection andtries to prevent malicious software or files from hitting corporate networksfrom devices that connect to them, such as phones and laptops.

    It also aims toprotect the data of companies which have shifted from guarding it under theirown roof, or on their own servers, to so-called cloud providers.

    The Texas-based firm was co-founded byentrepreneurs George Kurtz, who remains chief executive, and DmitriAlperovitch. It listed its shares publicly on the tech heavy Nasdaq stockexchange in 2019.

    Since it first launched, the company hasseemingly played a key role in helping firms investigate cyber-attacks.

    In 2016 Crowdstrike was called in by the USDemocratic National Committee, the strategy arm of the Democrat Party, to investigate abreach into its computer network.

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (17)Image source, Getty Images

  14. Ambulance services report surge in demandpublished at 19:30 19 July

    19:30 19 July

    Ambulance services have recorded higher than normal demand amid the IT outages today.

    Some trusts pointed to the disruption suffered by other healthcare services during the IT disruption – GPs and pharmacies have been affected by outages, and some hospital appointments were also postponed.

    The North East, South East Coast, South Central and London ambulance services have all recorded increased demand. The surge in London has been described as "huge".

    Patients with the most serious or life-threatening conditions have been prioritised, with others being warned wait times could be impacted.

  15. Gatwick expects most flights to 'operate as usual' tomorrowpublished at 19:13 19 July

    19:13 19 July

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (18)Image source, PA Media

    We've just had an update from Gatwick, which says its IT systems are now operating as normal and it expects the "majority" of flights to operate as usual tomorrow.

    “Some delays and cancellations will howevercontinue this evening and over the weekend. We strongly advise passengers tocheck with their airline for the latest updates," a spokesperson says.

    They add that there will be additional staff in the terminals this evening and some of the shops and eateries will remain open later than normal.

    See our earlier post for the latest statements from some of the other large UK airports.

  16. Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (19)

    Big firms back online while disruption continues for smaller businessespublished at 19:10 19 July

    19:10 19 July

    Joe Tidy
    Cyber correspondent

    There’s an interesting and strange lesson amidst the chaos.

    The biggest firms with the largest number of affected computers seem to be popping back up online the fastest.

    This is what you’d expect, of course, but it possibly points to these larger richer companies having better resourcing of IT staff and better resilience measures in place.

    The fix for this is largely a manual one and that means having IT staff at affected computers.

    It’s the small and medium sized businesses that I think are struggling the most. They have fewer computers to fix but also fewer staff to go out and do the fixing.

    For the big firms that make the headlines, this is largely proving to be short and sharp.

    But, of course, we also don’t know what happens next with the backlogs of work, appointments, missed deadlines and general damage to organisations.

    The most acute example of this is in airlines which are seemingly back online and running nearly normally, but with monstrous backlogs to work through.

  17. National Cyber Security Centre warns of rise in phishing incidentspublished at 18:47 19 July

    18:47 19 July

    The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is warning about an increase in phishing incidents in the wake of the global IT outage.

    Phishing is when fraudsters send scam emails or text messages intended to trick users into revealing sensitive information and transfer money.

    "An increase in phishing referencing this outage has already been observed, as opportunistic malicious actors seek to take advantage of the situation," the NCSC says in a statement.

    It is urging organisations to review its guidelines to ensure protections against phishing are in place and calls on people to be alert to suspicious emails or messages.

  18. Happy hens fly out for party after IT issues split grouppublished at 18:32 19 July

    18:32 19 July

    Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (20)

    A group of women on a hen do who were split up due to flight disruption caused by global IT problems are set to be reunited.

    Some processes at East Midlands Airport, like check-in and boarding, had to be done manually after a defect in a software update by cyber-security firm Crowdstrike caused worldwide issues.

    The group of 13 were set to fly from the airport to Dublin, but six of them who needed to check in luggage were delayed and missed their flight.

    Undeterred, they were able to secure a later flight and are set to meet up with the bride-to-be and six others who departed earlier on Friday.

  19. Watch: Tech outage leaves US passengers strandedpublished at 18:12 19 July

    18:12 19 July

    Flights have been delayed and cancelled across the US following the major global IT outage.

    Here's a look at what's been happening on the ground at several airports:

  20. More than 4,200 flights cancelled worldwide - Ciriumpublished at 17:54 19 July

    17:54 19 July

    Around 4,295 flights globally, or 3.9% of all scheduled services, have been cancelled so far today, according to aviation data from Cirium.

    While the IT outage has caused some flights to be cancelled, this figure also includes those cancelled for other reasons.

Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss (2024)

FAQs

Do companies take cybersecurity seriously? ›

Most firms aren't taking cybersecurity seriously enough - and it could come back to haunt them. Almost two-thirds (61%) of IT security decision-makers (ITSDMs) believe that their company leadership overlooks the role of cybersecurity in business success, leading many to fall beneath the mark, new research has claimed.

When did the CrowdStrike outage start? ›

The outage occurred July 19, 2024, with millions of Windows systems failing and showing the infamous blue screen of death (BSOD).

What happens if cyber security fails? ›

Financial loss

Firm funds could be stolen and loss of income could result from inability to operate, failure to complete client work or business deals, reduction in productivity, staff downtime, increased insurance premiums and the cost of attempting to recover lost information, equipment or data.

What is cybersecurity disruption? ›

Cyber-attack and disruption is a hazardous threat arising from intentional or unintentional incidents that cause a breach in security, damage to digital devices and networks, or a network outage.

What is the most trusted cybersecurity company? ›

Top Cybersecurity Companies to Know
  • McAfee.
  • CrowdStrike.
  • Deepwatch.
  • Rapid7.
  • KnowBe4.
  • Ping Identity.
  • Duo Security.
  • BAE Systems.

Is cybersecurity a dying industry? ›

Cyber Security Job Market and Career Gap

There is currently a high demand for skilled cyber professionals in the job market. It is expected that by 2025 there will be 3.5 million unfilled cyber security jobs due to a lack of skilled professionals and a growing need to secure more and more systems.

Why is CrowdStrike falling? ›

Shares of CrowdStrike (CRWD) are still falling after a faulty update caused a global outage on Friday, sending the cybersecurity firm's shares plummeting, but some investors—including Cathie Wood's ARK Invest—are trying to buy the dip.

Does the US government use CrowdStrike? ›

The extent of the impact on federal government operations is still not known. Crowdstrike is in wide use across federal agencies and it is a key vendor on the governmentwide Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation cybersecurity support services contract.

What went wrong at CrowdStrike? ›

A defective software update sent by CrowdStrike to its customers disrupted airlines, banks, hospitals and other critical services Friday, affecting about 8.5 million machines running Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Which banks get hacked the most? ›

The 10 Biggest Data Breaches in the Finance Sector
  • Equifax Data Breach. ...
  • Heartland Payment Systems Data Breach. ...
  • Capital One Data Breach. Date: March 2019. ...
  • JPMorgan Chase Data Breach. Date: October 2014. ...
  • Experian. Date: August 2020. ...
  • Block. Date: Apr 2022. ...
  • Desjardins Group. Date: June 2019. ...
  • Westpac Banking Corporation. Date: June 2013.
Apr 21, 2024

What is the biggest problem in cybersecurity? ›

Table of Contents
  • Configuration Mistakes.
  • Poor Cyber Hygiene.
  • Cloud Vulnerabilities.
  • Mobile Device Vulnerabilities.
  • Internet of Things.
  • Ransomware.
  • Poor Data Management.
  • Inadequate Post-Attack Procedures.

What is the biggest weakness in cyber security? ›

Top Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities
  • Zero-Day Vulnerabilities. ...
  • Unpatched Software. ...
  • Application Misconfiguration. ...
  • Remote Code Execution. ...
  • Credential Theft. ...
  • Security-Based Software. ...
  • Wi-Fi Security. ...
  • Firewalls.
Jan 22, 2024

What are the top 5 cybersecurity threats? ›

Defending against cyberthreats is a critical and ongoing process that requires a proactive and multifaceted approach. Social engineering, third-party exposure, cloud vulnerabilities, ransomware, and IoT are the top threats that organizations should focus on to protect their data, systems, and reputations.

What is considered a cybersecurity threat? ›

What are Cybersecurity Threats? Cybersecurity threats are acts performed by individuals with harmful intent, whose goal is to steal data, cause damage to or disrupt computing systems.

Is cybersecurity a real threat? ›

A cyber or cybersecurity threat is a malicious act that seeks to damage data, steal data, or disrupt digital life in general. Cyber threats include computer viruses, data breaches, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and other attack vectors.

Why don't people take cybersecurity seriously? ›

There are three main reasons why no one is truly taking cyber security seriously: Apathy, despair and cold-hard calculus of the actual cost of cybercrime to an individual organization.

Why don't companies take security seriously? ›

Cleanup costs. Many executives are reluctant to invest in security and compliance, because a full-scale security program isn't cheap. But the costs of a breach are much higher. Every year, businesses of all sizes go from healthy to non-viable in a matter of months due to a single attack.

Is cybersecurity really in demand? ›

Cyber security is an ever-growing industry. It is projected to grow by 11% in 2023 and by 20% in 2025. This is a fast-paced career with a median salary of $81,000. To meet this growing demand and advance your career in cyber security, consider earning a cyber security certification.

Is cybersecurity a respected career? ›

Yes. Computing and information technology occupations, including cybersecurity, rank among the highest-paying and most in-demand careers.

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