Aircraft grounding, television broadcasting suspension, stock exchange malfunction... A technical failure at Microsoft is affecting the world.
According to CCTV News, on the 19th local time, some applications and services under Microsoft Corporation experienced access delays, incomplete functionality, or blue screen access issues. At present, it has had an impact on multiple fields including aviation, railways, banks, enterprises, media, etc. in multiple countries. It is understood that the malfunction is related to CrowdStrike, a global cybersecurity company associated with Microsoft.
At the same time, CCTV reporters learned from multiple airlines such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines that as of now, flights have not been affected by large-scale system technical failures and are operating normally. International flights departing from Beijing Capital Airport and Daxing Airport are currently operating normally.
As of the time of press, Microsoft stated that the root cause of the issue has been fixed, and multiple Microsoft 365 applications and services have been restored to full functionality. The residual impact is still affecting some Microsoft 365 applications and services, and Microsoft 365 engineers are continuing to take additional measures to address the issue. Microsoft will continue to prioritize handling this incident.
During the pre-market trading phase of the US stock market on July 19th, CrowdStrike's stock price plummeted sharply, with a drop of up to 20% at one point, but as of the time of press, it had converged to 16%; Microsoft fell more than 2%.
Some Microsoft applications and services have experienced technical malfunctions
On the evening of July 18th local time, Microsoft users in the United States were the first to report malfunctions in Microsoft 365 applications and services. Subsequently, Microsoft announced that customers in the Midwest region of the United States may encounter issues with multiple Azure services and their Microsoft 365 application suite. This may include 'service management operations and service connectivity or availability failures'. Azure is a cloud computing platform under Microsoft, providing tools for creating, deploying, and managing applications and services.
On Friday local time, Microsoft stated that the root cause has been identified and most services have been restored. However, the company stated that some customers may still encounter issues in the region, and a small portion of services are still affected by residual impacts.
This downtime incident involves more than just Microsoft. According to CCTV News, the malfunction is related to CrowdStrike, a global cybersecurity company associated with Microsoft.
According to CCTV News, starting from around 13:30 Tokyo time on the 19th, computers running Microsoft Windows operating system in Japan began to experience access issues one after another. According to Microsoft's Japanese subsidiary, the issue has been confirmed to have occurred on computers that have installed the US cybersecurity company CrowdStrike software.
According to CCTV News, CrowdStrike's Japanese subsidiary stated that computers installed with the company's security software "Falcon" showed a "blue screen", indicating abnormal access issues with Windows. A spokesperson for CrowdStrike's Japanese subsidiary stated that they are aware of the issue and are investigating the cause and considering countermeasures.
London Stock Exchange: IT malfunction affects its pricing data and news releases
This downtime incident has affected multiple services of Microsoft 365, including critical applications such as Teams, causing significant impact globally.
The London Stock Exchange Group announced on Friday that it is investigating technical issues following a global technical malfunction that affected its pricing data and news dissemination.
The London Stock Exchange Group announced on its website that it is currently experiencing a third-party global technical issue that prevents news from being published on www.londonstockexchange.com. The technical team is working to restore services. Other services of the entire group, including the London Stock Exchange, continue to operate normally
On Friday morning local time, the Eikon data platform of the London Stock Exchange Group was also affected by technical issues. LSEG reported that there were technical issues when releasing currency spot and forward prices at 6:00 Greenwich Mean Time.
Multiple airlines in the United States have suspended flights
According to CCTV News, operations of airlines, banks, and media institutions around the world have been affected due to widespread system technology failures. Major US airlines such as United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines suspended flights on the 19th due to communication issues.
Multiple airports in the UK have experienced flight delays and some flights have been cancelled. Edinburgh Airport has experienced service interruptions due to screen malfunction, and British Rail has warned passengers of potential traffic disruptions. In Germany, Berlin Brandenburg Airport reported technical barriers and delays in boarding procedures. In Australia, airports, banks, and communication companies have also been affected, with Sydney Airport experiencing minor chaos. The digital service systems of dozens of hospitals in Israel have been temporarily suspended.
In addition, airports or banking systems in multiple countries such as South Africa, Czech Republic, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, New Zealand, and Singapore have also reported varying degrees of impact.