A faulty software update causes havoc worldwide for airlines, hospitals and governments

A disturbing reminder of vulnerabilityCyber expert James Bore said real harm would be caused.”All of these systems are runningthe same software,” Bore said.”We’ve made all of these tools so widespread that whenthings inevitably go wrong – and they will, as we’ve seen – they go wrong at a huge scale.”The head of Germany’s IT security agency, Claudia Plattner, said “we can’t expect a veryquick solution.” A forecast for when exactly all systems will be up and running is difficult, but”it won’t be hours,” she added.CrowdStrike said in a recording on its customer service line that the problem was related to”the Falcon sensor,” referring to one of its products used to block online attacks. Thecompany says it has 29,000 customers.In an interview on NBC’s “Today Show,”

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized, sayingthe company was “deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers,to anyone affected by this, including our companies.””We know what the issue is” and are working to remediate it, Kurtz said.Shares of the company, which is based in Austin, Texas, fell nearly 10% on Friday.Microsoft’s stock price fell more than 3%.Though the outage’s impact could be felt far and wide, the forecasting firm CapitalEconomics said it was likely to have little impact on the world economy.Cybersecurity experts said those affected by the outage also needed to be wary of badactors reaching out claiming they can help.”Attackers will definitely prey on organizations asa result of this,” said Gartner analyst Eric Grenier.

Air travel delayed everywhereMost airlines attributed the problems to their booking systems. Thousands of flights wereaffected in the U.S.alone, though by late morning on the East Coast airlines said they werebeginning to mitigate problems and resume some service.At Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, Sarah Schafer was delayed getting to hercousin’s 50th birthday party in Florida. She had been waiting for almost three hours with noindication of when her flight would be rebooked.”I seem calm,” said Schafer, who was using a cane because of ankle injury.”But my angryside might come out.”Airlines and railways in the U.K. experienced long wait times. And airports across Europesuspended landings or halted takeoffs for several hours due to difficulties in checking inpassengers.Saskia Oettinghaus, a member of the German Olympic diving team, was among those stuckat the Berlin Airport.”We are on our way to Paris for the Olympic Games and now we are at a standstill here forthe time being,” Oettinghaus said.Other athletes and spectators traveling to Paris were delayed, as were their uniforms andaccreditations, but Games organizers said disruptions were limited and didn’t affectticketing or the torch relay.

Broadcasters go dark, surgeries delayed, ‘blue screens of death’In Australia, national news outlets — including public broadcaster ABC and Sky NewsAustralia – were unable to broadcast on their TV and radio channels for hours. Some newsanchors went on air online from dark offices, in front of computers showing blue errorscreens. Internet and phone providers were also affected.In the U.S., KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri, aired Scripps News instead of local news untilabout 5:35 a.m., the stations said on its website. IT teams and engineers worked throughthe night to resolve the glitch, the station said. Other local stations owned by Scrippsreported similar problems, though Scripps spokesman Michael Perry said in an email earlyFriday that 90% of stations were able to air local news.Hospitals in different countries also reported problems.Britain’s National Health Service said the outage caused problems at most doctors’ officesbecause appointment and patient-record systems were affected.At Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in Massachusetts, all schedulednon-urgent surgeries, procedures, and medical visits were canceled Friday because of theoutage, according to a spokesperson.Some international shipping was disrupted, too.A major container hub in the Baltic port of Gdansk, Poland said it was battling problems.And at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, marine terminals were affected,although the outage didn’t cause significant disruptions.

“Basically, it’s been minimal impact overnight and we’re going to have to wait and see howthese terminals come up over the next several hours,” said Phillip Sanfield, a spokespersonfor the Port of Los Angeles.