CrowdStrike bug, Microsoft: 'Problem solved'. Company CEO apologises

The problem allegedly concerns the cybersecurity software CrowdStrike , (a company listed as falling along with Microsoft in premarket trading on Wall Street) used by many businesses and governments, which, due to a configuration error, is not updating correctly. "We are aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to Falcon Sensor, our technical teams are actively working to resolve this issue," CrowdStrike wrote in an alert confirming the outage at 1:30 a.m. US East Coast time on Friday (19 July, ndr).

CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor is software designed to prevent cyber attacks. The software update in question is crashing computers worldwide, leading in particular to crashes on Windows platforms. Numerous computers have crashed, causing them to display a blue screen and then fail to reboot.

Delays at Berlin airport stand out amidst chasing news about what appears to be a worldwide problem. "Information for passengers: due to a technical problem there will be check-in delays," reads a post on X of Berlin Brandenburg Airport.

US airlines have imposed a global shutdown for all flights they operate. The BBC reports. United, Delta and American Airlines, all based in the US, have imposed a 'global ground stop' for all their flights. Those currently en route will continue to their destinations, but no other flights will take off for the time being, reports the BBC.

Major problems are also being experienced in Australia at the moment with many flights grounded, supermarkets in chaos and transmission networks down. Disruptions also occurred at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. "The outage has an impact on flights to and from Schiphol," said a spokesman reporting flight delays and adding that it is not yet clear how many flights are affected.

The cause of the disruption to IT services worldwide is unclear, but - according to the BBC - many are pointing the finger at Microsoft's Windows operating system: in fact, a post on X of the Microsoft 365 service explains that the company's engineers 'are investigating a problem that is affecting users' ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services'. At the same time, however, a Microsoft spokesperson told the BBC that 'most services have been restored'.

In a statement that appeared on its social channels, Microsoft announced that 'mitigation measures' are being taken after many companies and services were brought to their knees by the 'service degradation of the US group's IT platforms. Our services are being improved as we continue to take mitigation measures,' the company wrote on X. In a statement Microsoft says that users 'may not be able to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services'. Microsoft adds that it is currently 'mobilised to manage this event with the highest priority and urgency, while continuing to address the ongoing impact to the remaining Microsoft 365 apps that are in a degraded state'.

Meanwhile, at the Milan Stock Exchange, after a problematic start (the Ftse Mib index of Piazza Affari was calculated late) trading resumed regularly. "With reference to the current interruption of Microsoft services, Borsa Italiana specifies that trading activities on its markets have opened and are operating regularly, as in all Euronext venues".

Major European airlines are registering major falls on the stock exchange after the global IT failure that is impacting air traffic. In Frankfurt Lufthansa dropped 2%, in Paris Air France-Klm fell -2.40%, in London Easyjet also fell (-1.19%), while in Dublin Ryanair fell 1.62%.

After reports of computer blockages around the world, reports are also coming in from London. The UK's largest rail operator is struggling with 'widespread' computer problems and warns of cancellations, write X about the four lines operated by the Govia Thameslink railway (Gtr). Some flights have been grounded. The BBC writes. The London Stock Exchange was also hit by a technical problem affecting its platform for disseminating information to the market, while the display of the change in the Ftse 100, its main index, was delayed at the opening.

Aena, the airport management company, has warned of possible delays at Spanish airports due to 'problems' with its computer systems. In a statement released on social media, Aena assures that it is trying to solve the IT problems 'as soon as possible'. But that these may produce delays in flights scheduled in Spain today, although the incident is not affecting all Spanish airports.