A traveler rests at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong July 19, 2024. Airlines at Hong Kong airport have been hit and are being managed manually due to the systems being affected by a global tech IT outage.
The problem traced back to an update issued for Windows computers by security firm CrowdStrike, the company said in a blog post. The company said at 6 a.m. Friday morning the problem had been identified and fixed, but by that point the effects had rippled around the world.on computer systems that are vulnerable from everything to attacks by sophisticated hackers to bungled software updates.
CrowdStrike’s software is widely used around the world by businesses seeking to defend themselves against hackers. The problems Friday affected only computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system, CrowdStrike said, leaving Apple computers and those using Linux unaffected. A technical issue Thursday evening prompted major airlines including Delta to delay service and reroute passengers. Then the 10:17 a.m. Friday flight to Charlotte was pushed to Saturday at noon. “It completely derailed our plans,” said Cox, slumped on a seat by the entrance of the airport.
Television news stations in several countries were knocked off the air. In Australia the outage left ABC News unable to deliver its usual evening news update. Instead it showed a