Microsoft faces global outage; Indian users too reporting problems

New Delhi: Microsoft users globally, several in India, have reported massive outages in services, with outage tracking website Downdetector showing users flagging disruptions across various services.

Globally, the Microsoft cloud outage led to US airlines cancelling flights, but the tech giant later reportedly said its cloud services outage in the Central US region has been resolved.

A new Crowdstrike (cybersecurity software firm) update is being cited as the cause of the outage, which has impacted Windows-based desktop and laptops.

Microsoft, crowdstrike and Windows are trending on X (formerly Twitter). On outage tracking website Downdetector, users reported problems across Microsoft line-up including Azure, and Teams.

Microsoft said it is investigating the issue "impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services".

"Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions," according to Microsoft 365 Status post on X.

The glitch is causing users to see the Blue Screen of Death error messages, and there are widespread reports of disruptions in international airlines, banks and media outlets.

"Blue screen of death reported at multiple companies - Crowd Strike attack. Are you also facing ??," wrote a user on X.

IT outage: Hyderabad airport issues advisory, 23 flights cancelled

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here, run by GMR group, on Friday put out an advisory saying that due to the global IT outage, the services of some airlines have been impacted.

Airport sources said that as many as 23 flights -- 12 departures and 11 arrivals -- including Indigo's flights to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru have been cancelled.

“We are closely working with all our stakeholders to minimise the inconvenience to our flyers. You may please get in touch with the airline concerned for updates on your flight information. We thank you for your support and understanding,” the airport said in a post on social media platform X.

Airport and airline operations faced significant disruptions on Friday due to the Microsoft outage, with airlines issuing advisories to passengers.

SBI says systems working fine, unaffected by Microsoft outage

Country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday said its systems are unaffected by the Microsoft global outage.

"We are all fine," its chairman Dinesh Khara told PTI, when asked about the impact of the global outage.

Microsoft users globally, several in India, have reported massive outages in services, with outage tracking website Downdetector showing users flagging disruptions across various services.

The outage disrupted flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday.

Escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.

Aware of issue, anticipate a resolution is forthcoming: Microsoft on global outage

Amid a massive global outage that hit operations of airlines, banks and businesses across the globe, Microsoft on Friday said that it is aware of the issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform.

A Microsoft spokesperson said: "We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming".

"We're aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform," the spokesperson said.

The outage put operations of businesses and systems across the globe in a state of limbo.

IT Ministry is in touch with Microsoft

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that IT ministry is in touch with Microsoft regarding global outage, and added that NIC network is not affected.

In a post on X, IT minister Vaishnaw said that the reason for this outage has been identified and updates have been released to resolve the issue.

CERT is issuing a technical advisory, he wrote.

"MEITY is in touch with Microsoft and its associates regarding the global outage... NIC network is not affected," the minister said.

Meanwhile, CERT-In has issued an advisory on the Microsoft outage caused by Crowdstrike update, and rated its severity as "critical".

Inputs from PTI