A major worldwide IT outage has caused significant disruptions across various sectors, including airports, train operators, banks, football clubs, and news organizations.
Flights are either grounded or prevented from landing, leading to long queues as passengers are checked in manually.
GP surgeries have been unable to access patient records or schedule appointments due to a malfunction in the central IT system.
However, NHS England has confirmed that there is no current impact on emergency services.
CrowdStrike has reported that its ‘Falcon Sensor’ software is causing Microsoft Windows to crash, displaying the infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’.
The company has issued a manual workaround and identified the issue as a defect in a Windows update, stating it is not a security incident or cyber attack. CrowdStrike President George Kurtz confirmed that a fix has been deployed.
The UK government is under pressure to address the situation. The Liberal Democrats have called for an urgent Cobra meeting to manage the crisis and minimize disruption to travel and healthcare services.
Christine Jardine MP stressed the importance of restoring critical infrastructure swiftly and enhancing digital systems to prevent future incidents.
The National Cyber Security Centre is advised to assist small businesses and other affected organizations during this outage.
