Worldwide IT disruption Check-ins and bookings at Eurowings possible again +++ Musk deletes Crowdstrike from all systems

There are currently massive restrictions in public life in numerous countries. The reason is a massive IT disruption.

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11 p.m.

Check-ins and bookings at Eurowings possible again

Check-ins, bookings, boarding: for Eurowings passengers, the all-clear has been given again following a worldwide IT disruption and numerous outages. "Now that the massive worldwide IT disruption has been rectified, all systems are available again at Eurowings," the airline announced. The airline currently expects to return to regular flight operations on Saturday. "However, due to the considerable extent of the IT disruption, which has led to disruptions in many areas of global air traffic worldwide, there may still be isolated disruptions."

UPDATE: Online check-in, check-in at the airport, boarding processes, booking & rebooking flights are all possible again. However, due to the considerable extent of the global IT disruption there may still be isolated disruptions. pic.twitter.com/7n9JelxU21

— Eurowings (@eurowings) July 19, 2024

8.14 pm

Elon Musk: Have deleted Crowdstrike from all systems

Elon Musk reacts to the massive IT outages. The head of the e-car manufacturer Tesla and the space travel company SpaceX, announced that he would no longer rely on the IT service provider Crowdstrike: "We have just removed Crowdstrike from all of our systems," he wrote on X.

We just deleted Crowdstrike from all our systems, so no rollouts at all

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 19, 2024

18.58 hrs

Planes can take off and land in Zurich again as normal

Following the worldwide IT disruption, all long-haul flights from Zurich were able to operate, as the airline Swiss announced later in the afternoon. However, 69 European flights had to be canceled. Around 9300 passengers were affected.

Several other airlines also had delays or canceled flights. According to the airport, at least 120 flights to and from Zurich were canceled.

According to Swiss, its systems were not affected by the breakdown at Crowdstrike, nor were those at Zurich, Geneva and Basel-Mulhouse airports.

5.55 p.m.

Mercedes team in Hungary affected by IT disruption

The German Formula 1 racing team Mercedes had extra work before the first free practice session in Hungary due to the worldwide IT disruption. "We had a bit of work to do, we have a lot of computers in the garage and at the command post," said Head of Engineering Andrew Shovlin at a press conference at the Hungaroring after the first one-hour session.

However, they had great support from software partner Crowdstrike, whose faulty update of an IT security system had caused the worldwide disruption in the morning. Other partners also helped the team. "The impact in the first free practice session was minimal, if not zero. We are where we need to be," emphasized Shovlin.

16.48 hrs

Eurowings cancels further flights

The airline Eurowings is canceling further flights after 3 p.m. due to ongoing technical disruptions. "We are still mainly canceling domestic German flights beyond 3 p.m.," a company spokeswoman told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. This should continue to relieve the affected IT system.

It was unclear in the afternoon when air traffic would be able to resume without restrictions. "We are doing everything we can to ensure that the situation has normalized by tomorrow, but I can't confirm that yet," said the spokeswoman.

According to the company's website, more than 80 flights are affected by the cancellations. Passengers affected by domestic flight cancellations are asked to book a train ticket themselves and submit it for reimbursement, Eurowings said. As soon as the disruption has been rectified, passengers will be immediately rebooked on alternative flights.

2.39 p.m.

Video shows grounding in the USA

12-hour timelapse of American Airlines, Delta, and United plane traffic after what was likely the biggest IT outage in history forced a nationwide ground stop of the three airlines. pic.twitter.com/wwcQeiEtVe

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 19, 2024

In the USA, all air traffic was paralyzed due to the huge IT disruption on Friday. A video from Flightradar24 shows flights landing one by one but not taking off. American Airlines, Delta and United were particularly affected.

14:34

Skyguide lifts restrictions

Global IT failures had an impact on air traffic on Friday morning. Skyguide air traffic control temporarily reduced capacity in transit traffic and for approaches to Zurich by 30 percent. The measure was lifted in the afternoon.

Skyguide was also affected by the global disruption caused by a failed update to a program from the IT security company Crowdstrike, as reported by the air traffic control authority. The problem partially affected corporate IT.

In the afternoon, the company wrote that the restrictions on transit traffic had been lifted with immediate effect. Skyguide is also working normally again for arrivals and departures. Safety in Swiss airspace was guaranteed at all times, it added.

2.10 p.m.

Energy suppliers are also struggling

Systems at some Swiss energy suppliers are also affected. However, this has no impact.

"Individual systems at Axpo are affected," said a spokesperson for the company based in Baden AG at the request of AWP. However, the safety of the infrastructure and security of supply can still be guaranteed without restriction.

The same applies to Axpo subsidiary CKW. It was "similarly affected" as the parent company, said a spokesperson. However, the relevant systems for the power supply are not affected, and "normal operations" prevail there.

"BKW was also affected by the global IT disruption at Crowdstrike," said a spokesperson for the Bern-based utility. As a result, various systems did not work in some cases. The security of the infrastructure was guaranteed at all times during the disruption and operations could be maintained.

BKW is currently in the process of restoring the systems. However, it is not possible to say with certainty when all systems will be running normally again.

Elektrizitätswerke der Stadt Zürich (EWZ) gave the all-clear: "We are in the fortunate situation that we are not affected by these problems." Alpiq echoes a similar sentiment. The company, which has stakes in the Gösgen and Leibstadt nuclear power plants, among others, is, "Sta

1.41 p.m.

Airlines interrupt bookings

Bookings can no longer be made with several airlines due to the massive IT breakdown. Ryanair and Wizzair, for example, have currently suspended flight bookings. While Wizzair states that "scheduled maintenance work" is being carried out, Ryanair says that the worldwide IT breakdown is responsible. "If you want to travel today (July 19) and have not yet checked in for your flight, you can do so at the airport."

13:36

Eurowings cancels all flights until 3 p.m.

The airline Eurowings is canceling all domestic German flights as well as flights to and from the UK with departure times up to 3 p.m. due to ongoing technical problems. According to a company spokeswoman, this is to relieve the affected IT system.

1.17 p.m.

Long queues at the airport

Due to the numerous canceled flights, many passengers are stranded at Zurich Airport. This is causing frustration and long queues. "When we tried to check in, nothing worked," one passenger told Züri Today. They were left in the dark for around three hours without any information. "The feeling is not so good right now."

13.02 hrs

Swiss cancels dozens of flights

The IT disruption is also having a massive impact on Swiss. Dozens of flights within Europe have already been canceled, as a glance at the departure boards shows. "Further flight cancellations and delays are to be expected," writes Swiss in a statement. Passengers are asked to check the status of their flight before traveling to the airport.

12.37 p.m.

British doctors' surgeries paralyzed

A system for making appointments and managing medical records has been affected by the global computer problems. Thousands of practices are having to revert to traditional methods.

The global IT systems outage is causing problems for thousands of UK GP surgeries and pharmacies. The majority of practices in England are affected by difficulties, according to a statement from the National Health Service (NHS), as reported by the British news agency PA. Around 3,700 practices are said to be affected by the problems. However, the 999 emergency number and emergency services have not yet been affected.

Practices are working with conventional paper records "Due to an unexpected system failure, we regret to inform you that all services are suspended until further notice," said the website of a GP practice in London. According to an NHS spokeswoman, a system for making appointments and managing medical records can no longer be used. Instead, traditional paper records and handwritten prescriptions are now being used.

The National Pharmacy Association said there were problems with accessing GP prescriptions and medicine deliveries, among other things.

12.33 p.m.

No flights to the USA

Departures to the USA from Zurich were canceled on Friday morning due to the worldwide IT breakdown. As a result, flight operations in Zurich-Kloten were still restricted and delayed at midday. No more planes took off for Zurich, but those in the air were still allowed to land.

Check-in for some airlines still had to be carried out manually, as Zurich Airport announced at midday. The global service company Swissport had previously confirmed that most of the baggage handling systems in Switzerland were down.

However, Flughafen Zürich AG's systems relevant to flight operations are running, the airport assured. They were not affected by the outage due to the IT breakdown.

12.28 p.m.

First all-clear

CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We…

— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024

Worldwide computer problems have severely disrupted air traffic. The IT company that may have caused them has now given the all-clear.

The IT security company Crowdstrike has fixed the error that is believed to have caused computer disruptions worldwide. Customers are now being directed to a download portal for a new update, wrote company boss George Kurtz on the online platform X.

The error was in an update to the Crowdstrike software for Windows computers, Kurtz wrote. The problem had been recognized and fixed. It was not a cyberattack or a security incident.

In the morning, air traffic was particularly badly affected by the computer problems. The airport in Berlin had to temporarily suspend operations. In Hamburg, air traffic was severely disrupted by problems at affected airlines.

12.21 p.m.

Swiss companies only slightly affected

Numerous companies around the world are struggling with IT problems on Friday morning after an update apparently failed on the Crowdstrike platform. Airports are particularly affected during the vacation season. Meanwhile, numerous companies are also reporting that everything is running normally for them.

"SIX is not using Crowdstrike," a spokesperson for stock exchange operator SIX told AWP. They are not affected by the problems. Swisscom has a similar view: it does not use the Crowdstrike agent and is not affected "according to the current state of knowledge". However, they are supporting those business customers who use Crowdstrike in rectifying problems.

According to a spokesperson, the IT systems at retail giant Coop are currently working "without any problems". Postfinance also states that its systems are running smoothly. "We are currently not affected by any major IT breakdowns," said a spokesperson.

Other banks are reporting the same: ZKB reports that it is not affected and that its systems are running normally. Raiffeisen is also not currently affected. "We are feeling the effects of the global IT problems to a minor extent with external service providers who are themselves affected by the problem," added a spokesperson.

The payment solution from payment service provider Twint is "stable from an operational perspective", a spokesperson said. "We are not affected by the outage and are continuing to monitor the situation in our teams very closely."

12.08 p.m.

Hospital switches to emergency operation

In Tyrol (Austria), the Kufstein district hospital had to switch to emergency operation due to the massive restrictions. "This outage affects both administrative and medical equipment, which means that patient care is only possible to a limited extent," according to a statement.

Unfortunately, outpatient emergencies cannot be treated at the moment. "We are working at full speed together with the neighboring hospitals, which are preparing to increase capacity," the hospital said.

11.59 am

Olympic Games also affected

According to the organizers, the worldwide IT outages are also affecting the Olympic Games in Paris, which begin in a week's time. The organizers have been informed about the worldwide technical problems with Microsoft's software, they said in a statement on Friday. "The problems are disrupting the IT operations of Paris 2024."

The Olympic Games will open on July 26 and run until August 11.

A glitch at US software company Microsoft brought airlines, hospitals, broadcasters, stock exchanges and other companies around the world to a complete standstill on Friday. In Germany, Berlin's BER airport was particularly affected.

Airlines in Australia, the USA, India, Spain, the Netherlands, France and the UK reported serious IT problems. The French IT security authority Anssi stated that, as things stand, there are no indications of a cyber attack.

11.57 a.m.

Federal administration not affected

The Federal Administration has so far not been affected by the worldwide IT breakdown on Friday. By midday, the Federal Office for Cybersecurity had no knowledge of any failures.

Reports had been received from various companies and critical infrastructures, a spokesperson for the Federal Office for Cybersecurity (FOCS) told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Friday. It was a faulty update or misconfiguration by the company Crowdstrike that led to these system failures.

The Bacs is in contact with the affected companies, which have contacted it. However, it had no knowledge of which companies were using Crowdstrike. The Federal Office for Cybersecurity assumes that the software is used in all sectors.

11.50 a.m.

Mallorca also affected

Mallorca airport is also affected by a worldwide disruption. The return journey from vacation is a test of patience. At best.

A worldwide IT disruption is also causing major delays at Palma de Mallorca Airport. Long queues formed in front of the check-in counters because the computers used for check-in were down. The flight operations themselves were apparently less affected.

The tour operator TUI temporarily stopped check-in, as confirmed by a dpa employee on site. Check-in was then resumed manually.

Other airlines only experienced minor problems. The Spanish airport operator Aena had previously announced that there were delays throughout the country due to the computer problems.

11.46 am

What you need to know now

Airlines and hospitals are struggling with computer problems in many countries. How did this happen? Here's what you need to know now.

Massive restrictionsWhat you need to know now about the global IT disruption

11.36 a.m.

Stock exchange, Swisscom and Postfinance not affected by IT outages

Numerous companies around the world are struggling with IT problems on Friday morning after an update to the Crowdstrike cyber security platform apparently failed. The Swiss stock exchange operator SIX, Swisscom and Postfinance are not among them.

"SIX does not use Crowdstrike," a spokesperson for SIX told AWP. They are therefore not affected by the problems. Swisscom has a similar view: it does not use the Crowdstrike agent and is not affected "according to the current state of knowledge". However, it is supporting those business customers who use Crowdstrike in rectifying problems.

Postfinance states that its systems are functioning "trouble-free". "We are currently not affected by any major IT glitches," said a spokeswoman.

11.27 a.m.

Swissport carries out check-in manually

Swissport has been severely affected by Friday's worldwide IT breakdown. The globally active service company based in Opfikon near Zurich Airport has reported the failure of most of its check-in facilities in Switzerland. Check-in must therefore largely be carried out manually.

Airports in all countries are affected differently, as Swissport spokeswoman Nathalie Berchtold told the Keystone-SDA news agency on request. The company is working with Microsoft to solve the problem as quickly as possible.

Swissport International Ltd., based in Opfikon in the canton of Zurich, is the world's largest service company for airlines and airports. Swissport International Ltd. works for around 850 customers in the aviation industry.

11.20 a.m.

Basel is also struggling with problems

Basel-Mulhouse Airport is also affected by massive IT problems. The airport announced this in response to an inquiry from the Basler Zeitung newspaper. The ground handling process has been disrupted. Several airlines and service providers are also affected.

11.18 a.m.

KLM suspends operations

The Dutch airline KLM has ceased operations. This was announced by the airline in Amsterdam. The reason is the worldwide IT problems.

11.17 a.m.

Swiss not directly affected

The airline Swiss is not directly affected by the global IT breakdown. However, since partner companies such as air traffic control Skyguide are confronted with the disruption, the airline's flight schedule is still being disrupted.

By late Friday morning, Swiss had canceled two flights to Berlin and back, as media spokeswoman Meike Fuhlrott told the Keystone-SDA news agency. Some delays are still to be expected. There could also be further flight cancellations. Passengers should check the status of their flight before traveling to the airport.

In contrast to other airports, Geneva Airport did not register any difficulties as a result of the update from the IT security company Crowdstrike. However, the fact that Skyguide flight safety is affected by the glitch is likely to have an impact on flight operations, according to an enquiry made this morning.

11.16 a.m.

Airports in Asia also affected

The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today 😅 pic.twitter.com/xsdnq1Pgjr

— Akshay Kothari (@akothari) July 19, 2024

Important airports in Asia are also affected by the global computer problems. Among others, Changi Airport in Singapore is experiencing delays due to the outages, reported Channel News Asia. Long queues formed in front of the check-in counters of several airlines because only manual check-ins were possible. Passengers in the Thai capital Bangkok were also affected.

The computer problems also caused disruptions at the airport in the Indian capital of New Delhi. Some services were temporarily impaired, the airport announced on X.

Passengers were asked to contact the airlines concerned. Several local airlines reported disruptions in online services, bookings and check-ins. Some airlines had filled out boarding passes by hand, according to media reports.

11.12 a.m.

Crowdstrike share price plummets

Crowdstrike's services are actually designed to protect against IT problems. Now there are indications that a faulty software update from the IT security company is the cause of a worldwide disruption.

The shares of IT service provider Crowdstrike have come under pressure following global computer problems. On Friday morning, the stock fell by around 15 percent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange compared to the previous day.

According to media reports, a bug in a program update of the IT security company was suspected as the trigger. Among others, an energy company in Australia attributed the problems to this. Crowdstrike spoke of problems in a message to customers, as reported by the technology website "The Verge".

11.11 am

Insel Group not affected

The Bern-based Insel Group is not affected by the global IT problem. This is what a media spokesperson told blue News. Clinical operations are not affected by the restrictions and operations are continuing as normal.

11.06 a.m.

Operations canceled

In Germany, operations also have to be canceled due to the major breakdown. Among others, the University Hospital in Schleswig-Holstein is also affected. All operations that could be postponed have therefore been canceled for Friday, as the hospital announced.

11.05 a.m.

Lufthansa only slightly affected

IT problems affect several airlines and airports worldwide. According to Lufthansa, the problems are limited.

Lufthansa considers itself "currently only slightly" affected by the worldwide computer problems. There may be "delays and individual cancellations", the airline announced in Frankfurt. There are no major effects due to the IT problems, a spokeswoman told the German Press Agency, without giving any figures. "Flight operations at BER airport have been significantly affected." Lufthansa regrets the inconvenience for its passengers.

Computer problems caused widespread disruption worldwide on Friday. In Germany, Berlin and Hamburg airports, among others, had to temporarily suspend operations at the start of the vacation season.

11.01 a.m.

Several TV stations affected

Several television stations in France have also been affected by the worldwide computer problems. The pay-TV channel Canal+ informed its subscribers that it was suffering from the effects of a major worldwide technical breakdown that was preventing its channels from broadcasting properly.

The television channel TF1 is also affected. A presenter said in the current program that the channel could not broadcast everything as usual. For example, no maps for the betting report could be shown. However, the programs would still be broadcast.

11.00 a.m.

Australia convenes emergency meeting

Australia has been hit particularly hard. The banks are completely out of action and supermarkets are also affected. The government has therefore convened an emergency meeting. "The Australian government is working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator on these developing outages," the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

10 a.m.

Zurich Airport struggles with problems

There are problems with check-in at Zurich Airport. In some cases, this has to be carried out manually, according to a statement. Several airlines are affected. In addition, all landings have been suspended, but flights with a Zurich destination that are already in the air are still allowed to touch down.

9.08 a.m.

Huge IT breakdown

There are currently massive restrictions in public life in numerous countries. The reason is a massive IT disruption. An update to the CrowdStrike cyber security platform has apparently led to problems. All computers with this system are currently unusable, reports "Bloomberg" - millions of devices are likely to be affected.

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There are currently massive restrictions in public life in numerous countries. The reason is a massive IT disruption.

An update to the CrowdStrike cybersecurity platform has apparently led to problems. According toBloomberg, all computers with this system are currently unusable - millions of devices are likely to be affected.

Among other things, air traffic has been suspended in numerous US cities. There are also massive restrictions at Berlin Airport and the central hub in Amsterdam. All Spanish airports are also affected by the outage, the operator told AFP.

There are problems with check-in at Zurich Airport. In some cases, this has to be carried out manually, according to a statement. Several airlines are affected. In addition, all landings have been suspended, but flights with a Zurich destination that are already in the air are still allowed to touch down.

Skyguide has also stated that it will have to reduce capacity in Swiss airspace.

According to its own information, Turkish Airlines has suspended all air traffic. Due to the global disruption, no flights are currently able to take off or land anywhere in the world. Other airlines, such as Ryanair and Eurowings, are also experiencing problems.

Emergency calls are no longer working

Various countries, including the UK for example, are reporting a complete breakdown of emergency services.

In addition, various TV stations can no longer be received. For example, the British TV station "Sky" is completely offline. Other media companies are also affected by the outage.

Australia has been hit particularly hard. Here, banks are completely out of action and supermarkets are also affected. The government has therefore convened an emergency meeting. "The Australian government is working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator on these developing outages," the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

In Germany, operations have also had to be canceled due to the major outage. Among others, the University Hospital in Schleswig-Holstein is also affected. All operations that could be postponed have therefore been canceled for Friday, as the hospital announced.

+++ Update to follow +++