A cyber security company blamed for a massive global IT failure apologised for a "defect" on Friday that grounded planes, knocked out TV broadcasts and affected banks, hospitals and financial markets.
CrowdStrike's faulty software update is believed to have sparked the chaos that led to Microsoft computers crashing, card machines breaking, Sky News going off air and traders waiting in vain for stock exchange news.
The US company's president and chief executive George Kurtz said a "fix has been deployed", requiring each user to reboot individually amid outages in the Middle East, Asia, the US, Europe and Australia.
"I want to sincerely apologise directly to all of you for today’s outage," Mr Kurtz said in a letter to company customers and partners.
"All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation."
The chief executive said that employees were on hand to respond to the outage and evaluate how it occurred.
Mr Kurtz said in posts on X that the failure was not a security incident or cyber attack, and vowed to be transparent about "the steps we're taking to prevent anything like this from happening again".
Flights were delayed around the globe, with airlines such as Turkish Airlines, Air France, KLM, Delta and Ryanair and hubs in Berlin, London and Amsterdam among those affected at the peak of summer travel season.
Dubai International Airport said it was operating normally after some airlines faced check-in problems. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its electronic systems were affected and told customers not to make transactions.
Major IT disruption hits companies around the world - in pictures
The UAE's Telecommunications And Digital Government Regulatory Authority said there was a “technical defect” with CrowdStrike.
“We advise users of the program to be patient and not perform any updates or downloads of CrowdStrike software until the problem is resolved,” it said.
UAE citizens and residents were advised to contact airlines before travelling. Meanwhile, the UAE Cyber Security Council recommended updating Google Chrome browsers to the latest version.
Software bug
Toby Murray, a cyber security expert in Australia, told The National that the cause appeared to be “a faulty update that was deployed to the CrowdStrike Falcon software, which is ubiquitous in large cyber-security-conscious organisations”.
He said Falcon, which monitors computers for threats, is “a pretty privileged piece of software in that it is able to influence how the computers it is installed on behave”.
Mr Kurtz in his letter to customers said that "this issue does not affect our Falcon platform systems".
"There is no impact to any protection if the Falcon sensor is installed. Falcon Complete and Falcon OverWatch services are not disrupted."
CrowdStrike “is a market leader for good reason, because of the effectiveness of their technology” but developers “need to implement careful practices for making sure the updates they are deploying won’t cause harm”, Mr Murray said.
Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell, said the severity of the problem “boils down to how long it lasts”.
“A few hours’ disruption is unhelpful but not a catastrophe. Prolonged disruption is another matter, potentially causing damage to companies and economies,” he said.
“So far, investors have not shown any panic. Whether that remains the case as the day goes on is another matter.”
Troy Hunt, the creator of the security check website Have I Been Pwned, said the issue was not with Microsoft itself but with the CrowdStrike software.
The outage is “basically what we were all worried about with Y2K”, the so-called millennium bug, he said, “except it's actually happened this time”.
Microsoft said it was “aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform".
"We are aware of this issue and are working closely with CrowdStrike and across the industry to provide customers technical guidance and support to safely bring their systems back online," Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said in a statement on X.
The CrowdStrike president said the faulty update was confined to Windows software and did not affect Mac or Linux users.
Shares in both companies were down but traders generally remained calm.
Worldwide problems
As users encountered a “blue screen of death” worldwide:
· Users reported service problems with Visa and Amazon on the website DownDetector, while payment problems hit supermarkets and currency exchanges were affected in Hong Kong
· Germany said “critical infrastructure” was affected, as two hospitals cancelled elective operations scheduled for Friday. Some UK doctors could not make appointments, and emergency call centres were down in Alaska
· Manchester United said it was postponing the release of football tickets, as several other clubs reported problems. The Paris 2024 Olympic organisers said their IT systems were hit
· Rail problems added to the travel chaos, with Britain’s biggest train company warning passengers to expect disruption due to “widespread IT issues”.
It was not immediately clear whether all reported disruptions were linked to CrowdStrike problems or there were other issues at play, amid interruptions to Microsoft’s Azure and Office 365 services.
Azure, Microsoft's cloud platform, said machines running Windows and CrowdStrike were getting stuck in a “restarting state”. It said it was investigating.
Russian banks and currency traders said they were having few problems, after Moscow was partly cut off from global markets under sanctions.
In the UK, Sky News was knocked off air before returning with limitations. Britain’s biggest train company warned passengers to expect disruption due to “widespread IT issues”.
The London Stock Exchange said that its Regulatory News Service was affected due to a “third-party global technical issue”.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor told The National that prices and indices on the London Stock Exchange “are now updating”, but not news stories.
In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration said the airlines United, American, Delta and Allegiant had all been grounded.
A representative for Dubai Airports said Dubai International was “operating normally” after the system failure affected check-in for some airlines. They said the companies affected had switched to an alternate system.
Budget airline Ryanair was affected, as were some of Europe's biggest airports in Berlin and Amsterdam. Widespread problems were reported at Australian airports, where queues grew as online check-in services and self-service booths were disabled.
Airports affected by IT outage - in pictures
Five Indian airlines announced disruptions to their booking systems on Friday. National carrier Air India said its systems had been “impacted temporarily due to the current Microsoft outage”, causing delays.
Budget operator SpiceJet said it had reverted to manual check-ins and boarding after “technical challenges”.
John Strickland, an aviation expert at JLS Consulting, said it was a “major challenge to return to normality” when airlines had curtailed “all or sizeable parts of their operations”.
“For the Northern European and North Atlantic markets, this is peak season and costs will run to millions of dollars,” he said.
All airports in Spain were experiencing “disruptions” from the IT failure, the airport operator Aena said. Hong Kong's airport also said some airlines had been affected, linking the disruption to a Microsoft service interruption.
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How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
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Super Rugby play-offs
Quarter-finals
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- Lions 23, Sharks 21
- Chiefs 17, Stormers 11
Semi-finals
Saturday, July 29
- Crusaders v Chiefs, 12.35pm (UAE)
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HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
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A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki
Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
The five pillars of Islam
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How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar
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How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Three ways to boost your credit score
Marwan Lutfi says the core fundamentals that drive better payment behaviour and can improve your credit score are:
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
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"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
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Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
