A global technology outage grounded flights, disrupted hospitals, backed up border crossings and even upended coffee orders in Canada on Friday, as issues persisted hours after problems with Microsoft services were said to be on the mend.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said the glitch felt round the world occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows B次元官网网址� and that the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and disruptions continued after the techcompany said it was gradually fixing the problem.
Major Canadian companies, including Porter Airlines and Telus, said their operations had been affected. Provincial health authorities in British Columbia and Newfoundland reported disruptions, as did several major Ontario hospitals.
Brent Arnold, a Toronto-based cybersecurity and technology lawyer, called FridayB次元官网网址檚 outage a software update gone wrong.
B次元官网网址淭his may be, I think, the biggest-scale one that weB次元官网网址檝e seen,B次元官网网址� said Arnold, a partner at Gowling WLG.
Porter Airlines, which initially grounded flights until noon, extended cancellations until 3 p.m. EDT due to the outage. By 12:30, the countryB次元官网网址檚 third-largest airline had scrapped 56 flights, or 26 per cent of its 212 scheduled takeoffs, according to aviation data firm Cirium.More than 7,000 customers were affected, and its website was down until mid-afternoon.
Martin Bertrand, who was slated to fly Porter from Toronto to the U.S. for a weekend trip with his wife, said his plans had been thrown into limbo.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e kind of disappointed that this whole thing happened,B次元官网网址� he said in an interview from Toronto IslandB次元官网网址檚 Billy Bishop Airport.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e still in the dark. So, weB次元官网网址檙e trying to figure out if thereB次元官网网址檚 a glimmer of hope for us.B次元官网网址�
Allan Friedland, who was set to fly from Billy Bishop to New Jersey for a family gathering, said he had to rebook on an Air Canada flight out of Toronto Pearson International Airport.
B次元官网网址淲e should hopefully make it,B次元官网网址� he said.
At Pearson airport, as well as the main airports in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, the vast majority of arrivals and departures between Canada and the U.S. were called off or postponed.
Passengers at Pearson saw early morning departures to cities including Houston, Denver and Washington, D.C., delayed for up to five hours. Flights from Chicago and Newark, N.J., were cancelled.
U.S. airlines were among the carriers affected, including United and Delta Air Lines, which have partnerships with Air Canada and WestJet, respectively. However, the fact the outage occurred overnight meant fewer flights were affected, with airlinesB次元官网网址� IT systems back up and running by sunrise on the East Coast.
B次元官网网址淔rom a global perspective, the impact in Canada is pretty minimal compared to what happened in other parts of the world,B次元官网网址� said aviation consultant Duncan Dee, pointing to widespread disarray and what some people described as chaos at airports in parts of Europe and Asia.
Some travellers will likely have to wait up to 72 hours before they reach their destinations, Dee said, B次元官网网址渘ot to mention the rolling delays that will occur as a result of this.B次元官网网址�
At Flair Airlines, the glitch caused B次元官网网址淲indows to crash and show the blue screen of deathB次元官网网址� at about 1 a.m. EDT, said Maciej Wilk, interim CEO of the discount carrier.
B次元官网网址淚t certainly ruined the night for several people here,B次元官网网址� he said in an interview, adding that the problem was patched within hours and no flights were delayed as a result.
Other companies with a presence at airports were not so lucky. Starbucks said its mobile order ahead and pay features were temporarily out of order.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know whatB次元官网网址檚 worse,B次元官网网址� traveller Robert Harris said in a social media post from Pearson, B次元官网网址渢he ground stoppage or the fact that the Starbucks order ahead isnB次元官网网址檛 working. Both are causing massive lines.B次元官网网址�
Disruptions extended to health care, government offices and other agencies.
University Health Network in Toronto, one of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 largest hospital networks, said some of its systems had been affected by the outage. In a social media post, it said clinical activity continued but some delays were possible.
TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Sunnybrook Hospital also reported it had been affected by the outage.
St. JosephB次元官网网址檚 Healthcare said its Hamilton hospital remained open as it worked on a fix to the issues it was experiencing with its IT systems.
Arnold, the Toronto cybersecurity lawyer, said the outage was a startling reminder of how dependent companies in Canada and around the world have become on just a handful of operating systems.
B次元官网网址淲e have also become more vulnerable because of that concentration in just a few companies and a few pieces of vital technology,B次元官网网址� he said.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 probably going to be days or weeks before we understand the full impact.B次元官网网址�
In British Columbia, the provincial health system was affected by the outage. In a statement, the Provincial Health Services Authority said it had implemented contingency plans to keep service operational and that patient care was B次元官网网址渘ot disrupted to the best of our ability.B次元官网网址�
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador advised users of its digital platforms of possible service disruptions. The provinceB次元官网网址檚 health authority, NL Health Services, said its IT services had also been affected, including the main information system used to manage patient care and finance information.
The outage reached the border too.
The Canada Border Services Agency said it had experienced a partial systems outage of its telephone reporting system, primarily used by small aircraft passengers and boaters, that had since been resolved.
B次元官网网址淭he CBSA worked urgently with its partners and service providers to mitigate any disruptions and restore full service as quickly as possible,B次元官网网址� spokeswoman Jacqueline Roby wrote in a statement.
B次元官网网址淣o CBSA systems are affected at this time.B次元官网网址�
Earlier on Friday, Windsor police reported long delays at both Canada-U.S. border crossings at the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.
Banks in Canada were B次元官网网址渞eviewing the situation based on updates from their technology partners,B次元官网网址� a spokeswoman for the Canadian Bankers Association said.
B次元官网网址淎ny current impacts on banking services would be temporary,B次元官网网址� Maggie Cheung said in a statement.
Calvin Watt, who said he held an investment account with RBC, said he was unable to make any trades Friday morning.
B次元官网网址淣othing is able to go through,B次元官网网址� he said, speaking in the lobby of a downtown Toronto office building. B次元官网网址淚 am still not able to make trades.B次元官网网址�
At least one major Canadian telecommunications carrier said the outage had affected its operations.
A spokeswoman for Telus said some of its employees were unable to access B次元官网网址渢he tools and systems necessary to support our customers.B次元官网网址� The company was working with B次元官网网址渢he utmost urgencyB次元官网网址� to get the systems working again, she said.
Bell and Rogers, two of the other major carriers, said their networks were unaffected.
Canada Post said a small number of post offices across the country appeared to be affected by the outage, calling the impact to customers B次元官网网址渕inimal.B次元官网网址�
Microsoft 365 posted on social media platform X that the company was B次元官网网址渨orking on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impactB次元官网网址� and that they were B次元官网网址渙bserving a positive trend in service availability.B次元官网网址�
CrowdStrike said it was working with customers hit by B次元官网网址渁 defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭his is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,B次元官网网址� it wrote in a statement.
The problem hit the theatre world as well. Mirvish Productions said Friday morning its online, phone and in-person ticket sales were unavailable, with no update as of late afternoon.
John Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University, said the incident should serve as a B次元官网网址渨arning signB次元官网网址� to airlines and companies across the globe.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no such thing as a fool-proof solution.B次元官网网址�
