Computer outage 'fix' deployed by CrowdStrike as Australia, New Zealand, United States and Japan impacted

The company at the centre of a major global IT outage says it has deployed a “fix” for the issue, hours after wreaking havoc on businesses and airports across the globe.

Australia and New Zealand were hit by the outage about 3pm AEST with problems also being experienced in the US, Japan, the Philippines, India, Central America and the UK.

The issue was quickly linked to IT platform CrowdStrike, which detects cyber attacks and security risks to computer data.

Just before 6pm AEST, the company issued a new content update which is set to resolve the issue.

The platform is installed as a security program throughout numerous major organisations and has caused a “blue screen” crash for users.

In a statement, Crowdstrike said it was looking into the problem.

Tesserent Cyber Solutions by Thales Australia gave an update on the fix.

"CrowdStrike has deployed a new content update which resolves the previously erroneous update and subsequent host issues.

"As your devices receive this update you may need to reboot for the changes to take effect and for the blue screen (BSOD) issues to be resolved."

The company gave these steps as the current workaround:

1. Boot in Safe Mode
2. Navigate to Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike - Find and delete "C-00000291*.sys"
3. Reboot normally

"We understand that this has been caused by an issue affecting organisations who have installed Crowdstrike Falcon in their IT environments," a CyberCX spokesperson says.

"At this time, CyberCX is actively tracking the situation and are awaiting information detailing scope and recovery.

"We will continue to support affected customers as this incident evolves."

Associate Professor Toby Murray, from the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne, said the outage was potentially being caused by a “buggy” update from CrowdStrike.

Mr Murray described the platform as a “bit like anti-virus software”.

“It is regularly updated with information about the latest online threats so it can better detect them,” he said.

“We have certainly seen anti-virus updates in the past causing problems.”

Many major airports have been hit as a result, with customers being hit with delays across LAX, Sydney Airport and Heathrow Airport.

Users took to social media across the globe to express their frustration.

“Stuck on a plane at LAX because of [the] Microsoft global outage. No gates because all flights are grounded so Delta has us parked in a remote area...good times,” one user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Another user wrote: "Heathrow never ceases to amaze. Awaiting bus to terminal but, in the words of the captain: 'Microsoft or something has crashed and is affecting communication with all airlines'. LMAO.”

Media outlets across the globe have also been hit by the outage.

In Australia, the presenters on ABC News 24 reported technical difficulties and were unable to replay parts of Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention.

In the UK, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has been unable to publish news on its website, the RNS service.

The LSE's company news feed "is currently experiencing a third-party global technical issue, preventing news from being published," the exchange said in a statement.

"Technical teams are working to restore the service. Other services across the group, including London Stock Exchange, continue to operate as normal."

The exchange giant said other services were operating as normal.

Railway lines, including the Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern brands, are also experiencing widespread issues.

"We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks," Govia Thameslink Railway said.

Sky News UK has been taken off the air as a result of the outage.

"We’re obviously not on air," Sky Sports Presenter Jacquie Beltraor wrote on X.

"We're trying."

In the US, the outage affected 911 lines in multiple states.

"If you have an emergency, call the 10-digit number for your local police or fire department," the US Emergency Alert service posted on social media.

In Hong Kong, even Mickey Mouse was not immune to the outage with Disneyland also disrupted.

In a statement, the park said their online ticketing system was down as a result of an "unexpected computer system outage" and asked visitors to purchase tickets at the gate.

The Paris Olympics’ organising committee also that its IT operations have also been impacted. It comes just a week before the 2024 games begin.

“We have activated contingency plans in order to continue operations,” the committee said in a statement.