Increased Flight Disruptions Anticipated Following Global IT Outage
On Friday, some 167 flights scheduled to depart UK airports were canceled. Flight delays and cancellations are expected to continue over the weekend due to a global IT outage. Experts warned that it may take weeks for systems to fully recover after a flawed update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused disruptions worldwide.
The company’s CEO, George Kurtz, apologized for the incident and clarified that it was not a security breach. A fix for the bug in the update affecting Microsoft Windows PCs was deployed on Friday afternoon. CrowdStrike attributed the issue to a “sensor configuration” triggering a logic error that has since been corrected.
Airports across the UK, including London Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, and Belfast International, advised passengers to check with airlines for any delays or cancellations before traveling on the weekend.
In total, 167 flights departing from UK airports were canceled on Friday, with 171 flights scheduled to land in the UK also canceled. Aviation analytics company Cirium reported that 5,078 flights globally were canceled on Friday, including the 167 departures from the UK.
Incidents of disruptive IT outages extended beyond travel, impacting services like pharmacies. Industry experts warned that it could take weeks for all systems to be fully restored following the outage.
Experts cautioned users to be vigilant against potential scams during the recovery process. The National Cyber Security Centre highlighted an increase in phishing attempts related to the outage and advised organizations and individuals to stay alert.
The incident caused CrowdStrike’s stock value to drop by over 8 percent at the start of trading on Friday. The outage disrupted various sectors, causing major infrastructure to malfunction and leading to increased pressure on emergency services like ambulance and NHS operations.
