WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A faulty software update caused technological havoc worldwide on Friday, grounding flights, knocking media outlets offline, and disrupting hospitals, small businesses and government offices. The breadth of the outages highlighted the fragility of a digitized world dependent on just a few providers for key computing services.
The trouble with the update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike affected customers running Microsoft Windows. It was not the result of hacking or a cyberattack, according to CrowdStrike, which apologized and said a fix was on the way.
Businesses and governments worldwide experienced hours-long disruptions — their computer monitors glowing blue with error messages — and scrambled to deal with the fallout.
Thousands of flights were canceled and tens of thousands were delayed, leading to long lines at airports in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Airlines lost access to check-in and booking services in the heart of the summer travel season.
Several local TV stations in the U.S. were prevented from airing the news early Friday, and some state and local governments reported problems at courts, motor vehicles departments, unemployment agencies, emergency call centers and other offices.