CrowdStrike Falcon glitch disrupts global services across sectors

The software, which is used by millions of Windows PCs, caused the machines to shut down unexpectedly, displaying a "blue screen of death" error message.

The problem also affected enterprise infrastructure running the software, leading to service disruptions across various sectors and regions.

In Australia, banks, supermarkets, tech platforms and broadcasters, including the ABC and Sky News Australia, reported difficulties accessing their systems and websites.

Flights were delayed at several airports, including Brisbane, Sydney and Singapore, and some airlines, such as Virgin Australia, experienced problems with their check-in and booking services.

US emergency service outages

In the US, major carriers including American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines grounded flights due to communication issues, while emergency 911 lines in some states went down.

In Europe, airports in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands reported delays and technical faults, while Ryanair, the largest airline on the continent, advised passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.

The London Stock Exchange also suffered an outage that affected its news and data platform as well as the publication of regulatory announcements.

In India, several news channels, hospitals and railway operators faced disruptions, while in Hong Kong, the international airport was left in "chaos" as check-in had to be done manually.

Reboot affected PCs

CrowdStrike said it was aware of the reports of crashes and was working to resolve the issue. It also published a manual workaround to reboot the affected PCs.

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Australia's National Cyber Security Coordinator, Michelle McGuinness, said there was no information to suggest the outage was a cyberattack, and that it was related to a technical issue with a third-party software platform.

Australia's National Emergency Mechanism Agency, which consists of federal, state and territorial governments and industry representatives, convened to respond to the issue.

The full impact and cause of the outage are still being investigated.