Global IT Outage Causes Travel Chaos and Cybersecurity Alerts
CrowdStrike has issued a warning about a “likely eCrime actor” targeting Latin American customers, advising organizations to use official communication channels. Meanwhile, UK holidaymakers face potential travel disruptions this weekend due to Friday’s global IT outage. The Port of Dover is dealing with “hundreds of displaced” airport passengers, and travelers are urged to check with providers for additional steps.
Travel expert Simon Calder reports at least 45 flight cancellations affecting over 7,000 passengers, with long queues at Gatwick airport. Meta confirmed that some vendors policing its platforms were impacted by the outage affecting airports, banks, and hospitals globally.
In Australia, scammers are exploiting the CrowdStrike outage on Microsoft Windows systems, prompting warnings from the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, about phishing attempts. The White House stated that President Joe Biden’s team is in communication with CrowdStrike and ready to assist.
Operations are resuming at US airlines and airports across Asia, with normalcy returning to Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Singapore’s Changi airport. Australia reports mostly restored services, though Sydney airport faces delays.
Computer scientist Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Prof. Ciaran Martin highlighted the need for increased resilience and collaboration between governments and industry to prevent future IT flaws. Chartered security professional James Bore warned of “lingering effects” as millions of computers require manual fixes.
The National Pharmacy Association cautions UK patients of potential prescription disruptions due to backlogs. Indie rock band Bombay Bicycle Club announced a rescheduled date for their missed Poolbar festival performance in Austria.
