Global Microsoft outage hits airlines, banks and businesses, Ukraine is hit too

Sources: Radio Svoboda

In the early hours of July 19, Ukraine faced significant tech disruptions affecting a range of businesses, including Nova Poshta, Monobank, Sense Bank, and Vodafone. These issues were not isolated to Ukraine; they were experienced across many countries worldwide.

On Friday, a series of unidentified glitches led to widespread interruptions across airlines, banks, and even the London Stock Exchange. The global cascade of disruptions began after Microsoft reported issues with its online services.

Later reports indicated that the IT outages were linked to a software update for Microsoft Windows operating systems issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. This left CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz red-faced; he promptly issued a statement claiming that the IT issue causing the global outage had been identified and that a fix had been deployed. He added that his company was working with “customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts” and emphasized that the issue was “not a security incident or cyberattack.”

The technical debacle caused major airlines to pause hundreds of flights worldwide, affecting American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Airlines. Meanwhile, Berlin’s airport reported delays in flight check-ins, reflecting similar technical problems at other airports globally.

Sky News, one of the UK’s leading news channels, announced it had to interrupt its broadcast due to the IT outage, according to the network’s board chairman.

The situation quickly spiraled out of control, affecting Spanish airports, Turkish airlines, Australian media outlets, and banks. Major corporations, including McDonald’s Corp., United Airlines Holdings Inc., and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), reported various connectivity issues with customer support services.