Workers around the world woke up to a global IT outage on Friday morning, as CrowdStrike Windows’ software stopped functioning.
A flawed software update sent companies everywhere into utter chaos as airlines, banks, broadcasters, hospitals and many more organisations were affected.
Meanwhile, social media’s jokers managed to go into overdrive...
happy international bluescreen day???? pic.twitter.com/caAvytQyS9
— sxchopea (@sxchopea) July 19, 2024
BREAKING: Internet
— The Chaser (@chaser) July 19, 2024
it’s HER day pic.twitter.com/LiZtVcBPoR
— Louis Staples (@LouisStaples) July 19, 2024
Microsoft right now. pic.twitter.com/5AA5YuseR5
— Matthew Highton (@MattHighton) July 19, 2024
#BREAKING: Widespread Microsoft outages have sent IT systems across Australia into a tailspin this afternoon, with banks, airlines, police, and other systems reported as being affected.
— 10 News First (@10NewsFirst) July 19, 2024
(And humble news social team admins too, evidently. We're doing our best here. More to come.) pic.twitter.com/IM0LZARu5v
Microsoft outage but Teams and Outlook are both fine is the adult version of snow that doesn’t settle enough for a school closure.
— Max Pollard (@MaxPollard92) July 19, 2024
MICROSOFT PLEASE DONT FIX THIS BLUESCREEN ISSUE FOR THE NEXT 8 HOURS I BEG YOU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pic.twitter.com/QLAJ9HkjCj
— bells (@downfallery) July 19, 2024
I like to think that there's someone in a Microsoft building somewhere who just clicked on the wrong thing and accidentally shut down the world.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) July 19, 2024
Microsoft Global Outage latest: in the UK, train cancellations and NHS online appointment chaos suggest Britain remains unaffected pic.twitter.com/CbJncro6Ps
— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) July 19, 2024
Microsoft #outage delays my flight. Regretting asking for a Windows seat.
— Simon Atkinson (@JournoAtko) July 19, 2024
Microsoft Windows users right now. #crowdstrike#bsodpic.twitter.com/l153GL0xwU
— Tommy (@tferris) July 19, 2024
Live scenes in every IT department after the Microsoft outage pic.twitter.com/k01HN5Z2eK
— LADbible (@ladbible) July 19, 2024
My first day working as a consultant at Microsoft! All going extremely well apart from tripping over a cable. 99% sure I plugged it back in the right socket.
— Brian Butterfield (@MrBButterfield) July 19, 2024
Whoever's responsible for the Microsoft outage is getting fired anyway, so the smart thing to do would be knock Teams out for the day too and leave a hero.
— Sam Whyte (@SamWhyte) July 19, 2024
Shout out to Microsoft for letting everyone have an early finish on a Friday pic.twitter.com/fppgrfPUM6
— Rach (@itsrachel_) July 19, 2024
Microsoft today be like pic.twitter.com/nvfYsTMkgB
— Crazy Management Consultants (@CrazyMgmtCons) July 19, 2024
Anyone know how Liz Truss's first day at Microsoft is going?
— Florence ???? (@LoxyFlo) July 19, 2024
After smashing it on his first morning of a new job at Microsoft, Jonathan Gullis goes on tea break and takes a look at what's been happening in the news pic.twitter.com/8gekbAqLMS
— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) July 19, 2024
My first day working as a consultant at Microsoft! All going extremely well apart from tripping over a cable. 99% sure I plugged it back in the right socket.
— Brian Butterfield (@MrBButterfield) July 19, 2024
— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) July 19, 2024
Corporate employees thanking that one person because of whom Microsoft is down pic.twitter.com/dZm8oWv7SP
— Ritik Sahu (@guy_weirdness) July 19, 2024
In the UK, hospitals and clinics ended up returning to paper charts and handwritten prescriptions today to keep the NHS up and running, although luckily there was no impact on emergency services or 999.
George Kurtz, founder and chief executive of the cyber security company CrowdStrike, which was behind the Microsoft update, told NBC that his team were “deeply sorry for impact that we’ve caused to customers”.
He explained the bug in a single update was identified very quickly, and his company was now “working with each and every customer to make sure that we can bring them back online”.
He also made it clear that there was no chance the IT meltdown was due to a cyber attack.
But, he said it would take some time for “some systems” to return to normal, and they would not “just automatically recover”.
Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden, told the BBC: “Cobra officials met this morning.
“I’ve been kept updated about the situation throughout the day, the prime minister has been kept informed. We will have a further meeting later today to make sure we are across the situation.
“But as far as government services goes, the online services that government provides, these are largely unaffected now, and it’s important that’s the case because a lot of vulnerable people depend on these services.”
The two other major operating systems, Linux and Apple, were unaffected.
