Global IT Meltdown: Banks, Airports, and Government Services Crippled

A massive IT outage has hit major institutions across the nation, and globally, affecting banks, media outlets, airports, supermarkets, and government services.

Reports were emerging that the outage was not malicious, however, there was no information as to how long it could last with some businesses forced to close their doors while they waited.

Telstra said its services were affected by a problem with Microsoft and a software update by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike that seems to have gone awry.

A federal government spokesperson said they were working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator on the “unfolding outage” which started at about 3.30 p.m.

“This outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies,” they said.

“As the cyber security co-ordinator has said, there is no information to suggest this is a cyber security incident and they are continuing to engage across key stakeholders.”

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The spokesperson said the National Emergency Mechanism group would soon meet and be co-chaired by the National Emergency Management Agency.

Crowd-sourced website Downdetector has listed Telstra, Microsoft, Google, Foxtel, National Australia Bank, ABC, Uber, ANZ, and Bendigo Bank as suffering outages.

However, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, police across much of the country, and the federal and NSW governments were also hit as well as point-of-sale machines at shops including Coles and Woolworths.

The flight screens at Sydney Airport and other airports across the country were blank for some time with passengers being warned of delays.

While they started working again at about 5.30 p.m., many passengers were still unable to board flights with Jetstar reportedly experiencing ongoing problems with their systems.

Flights across the country are being cancelled as a result.

A Virgin Australia spokesperson said some of its flights were likely to be cancelled and others would be delayed.

“We are working to resolve any delays and get our guests on their way as quickly as possible,” a spokeswoman said.

Reports were emerging of the outage spreading globally with companies around the world reporting issues with their services.

Overseas airlines were cancelling international services after their systems crashed.

Major Australian Media Networks and Services Hit

In Australia, many media organisations are being affected by the outage.

“The ABC is experiencing a major network outage, along with several other media outlets,” it said in a news story on its website.

Nine and Sky News said their news bulletins had been impacted.

Even footy fans were being hit with AFL club Essendon warning fans to bring physical tickets so they could get into Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

The Australian National Relay Service confirmed it was working to restore services but said it was able to make emergency triple-zero calls.

“We understand the global Microsoft outage, which is affecting many government and business services, is the cause of the National Relay Service outage,” a spokesman said.

The NSW government said a Microsoft outage was affecting a range of services.

“Departments are activating business continuity plans to ensure ongoing service,” a spokesman said.

The NSW Police systems were also affected with a spokesperson urging the public to only contact triple-zero in an emergency.

Victoria Police said some internal application systems had been affected by the national outage but it was not impacting its ability to dispatch or respond to incidents.

Microsoft said it was working to fix issues with its apps and services.

“We’re investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services”, the tweet posted on the social media platform X said on Friday.