Digital disruptions caused by CrowdStrike, Microsoft impact Sea-Tac, area hospitals

In sweeping digital disruptions, a flawed software update has led to a cascade of failures across vital services worldwide. The erroneous patch, released by cybersecurity entity CrowdStrike, inadvertently crippled systems running on Microsoft Windows, causing a ripple effect that grounded flights, disabled banking operations, and even halted media broadcasts.

CrowdStrike has acknowledged the mishap, clarifying that the incident was not the result of a cyberattack. They have extended an apology and assured that a resolution is forthcoming. However, the aftermath of the faulty update has been far-reaching and severe.

Microsoft spokesperson Frank X. Shaw confirmed in an emailed statement that “a CrowdStrike update was responsible for bringing down a number of Windows systems globally.”

“All of these systems are running the same software,” Cyber expert James Bore said. “We’ve made all of these tools so widespread that when things inevitably go wrong — and they will, as we’ve seen — they go wrong at a huge scale.”

At 9:36 a.m. Friday, the company posted on X through its @MSFT365Status handle that “after an extended period of monitoring, we’ve determined that the issue is mitigated” and previously affected apps and service have “recovered.”

A thread from that X account previously said late Wednesday it was working to “alleviate impact” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”

CrowdStrike also has been providing updates on the situation, saying in a blog post updated Friday afternoon the company “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.”

It added that this incident was not a cyberattack.

The blog entry also contains a “tech alert with more information about the issue and workaround steps organizations can take.”

In a separate blog post CrowdStrike Founder and CEO George Kurtz apologized for the outage and said the firm “quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix, allowing us to focus diligently on restoring customer systems as our highest priority.”

While the problem is fixable, it requires some expertise — and its impacts could last long past Friday, with Kurtz noting earlier that some customers may need a “manual” fix. Cybersecurity experts also warn of bad actors who may reach out claiming they can help. Smaller companies or organizations with less IT resources are particularly at risk.

Gartner analyst Eric Grenier noted that those affected should make sure they’re talking to trusted organizations as they work towards recovery. “Attackers will definitely prey on organizations as a result of this,” he said.

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Seattle-area airport, other area entities affected

According to FlightAware, over 400 flights leaving and arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac Airport) were delayed and canceled Friday and the number climbed steadily throughout the day.

KIRO 7 was at the airport and spoke to customers impacted by the digital outage with one calling it “terrible” and another noting “it’s not a good situation.”

Sea-Tac Airport spokesman Perry Cooper told KIRO Newsradio late Friday morning there wasn’t a lot of impact from there. He noted Alaska Airlines wasn’t impacted and they are the airport’s biggest carrier.

“It was pretty much a regular busy day,” Cooper said. “The airport doesn’t run CrowdStrike so we were not impacted. It was each individual airline and their impacts. Delta and(American Airlines) ended their ground stop about 6:30 a.m. United called theirs shortly after that.”

Cooper added that the airport didn’t see any impact to airport operations or any major congestion of the terminal “outside of individual airline wait lines.”

A global IT outage is impacting systems for some airlines that fly from SEA. Travelers, please check with your airline for the latest flight information and give yourself extra time arriving to the airport. pic.twitter.com/DtVJuZxbq9

— Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport (@flySEA) July 19, 2024

Earlier Friday, the FlightAware MiseryMap reported Atlanta, Houston, Denver, Charlotte and Chicago saw a number of problems. Travelers have found themselves stranded at international airports, and airlines were unable to process check-ins or bookings.

For those who saw their flights affected by the technology outage, The Associated Press has a series of suggestions of what to do next.

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The healthcare sector was also hit, as hospitals faced difficulties managing appointments, leading to the postponement of non-critical medical procedures. Seattle’s Children’s Hospital dealt with IT-system issues earlier on Friday, but reported in the afternoon that “all applications are now online.” Harborview Medical Center said normal operations resumed after problems existed overnight.

In the media landscape, several American broadcasters experienced interruptions, unable to transmit their scheduled news segments.

Also, according to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times, the Seattle Mariners sent a message Friday advising those who had tickets for Friday night’s key game against the Houston Astros to “verify your tickets as soon as possible.”

FYI pic.twitter.com/tkbVdc1o33

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) July 19, 2024

Contributing: The Associated Press; Steve Coogan

Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X and email him here.