A major Microsoft outage wreaked havoc globally today. Computer glitches led to grounded flights, halted operations at banks and stock exchanges, and disrupted payment systems and even emergency services.
Microsoft finally acknowledged the outage after six hours of user-reported issues. They assured progress in restoring services with several functions coming back online.
Downdetector, a service tracking online disruptions, revealed over 900 reports. The majority (74 percent) faced issues with OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage. Server connection problems plagued 16 percent, while 10 percent struggled with email access through Outlook.
A recurring error message causing computer restarts and trapping users in a loop amplified user frustration. The outage took social media by storm, with users sharing their experiences and yearning for a quick resolution.
What could be behind the outages?
Microsoft has pinpointed a configuration change within its Azure cloud platform as the preliminary cause of the global outage. This change disrupted the connection between storage and computing resources, leading to connectivity failures for dependent Microsoft 365 services, according to the company's Service Health Status updates.
As the world grapples with this widespread outage, questions about the cause linger. While details remain scarce, both Microsoft and CrowdStrike are actively investigating the issue.
Data privacy expert at law firm Gordons, Lauren Wills-Dixon, says, "We don't yet know the cause of these outages, but it appears this is linked to Microsoft and Crowdstrike which would explain disruption across sectors and globally. "Outages can be created by several causes and Microsoft has named a 'technical issue' rather than a cyber incident."
"We'll likely find out more as the hours progress, but this shows just how reliant we are on certain tech, how much trust organisations put in them and their security practices, and also the chaos that downtime can cause."
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