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 害羞草研究所� 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 Friday害羞草研究所檚 outage a software update gone wrong.
害羞草研究所淭his may be, I think, the biggest-scale one that we害羞草研究所檝e seen,害羞草研究所� 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 country害羞草研究所檚 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.
害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e kind of disappointed that this whole thing happened,害羞草研究所� he said in an interview from Toronto Island害羞草研究所檚 Billy Bishop Airport.
害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e still in the dark. So, we害羞草研究所檙e trying to figure out if there害羞草研究所檚 a glimmer of hope for us.害羞草研究所�
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.
害羞草研究所淲e should hopefully make it,害羞草研究所� 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 airlines害羞草研究所� IT systems back up and running by sunrise on the East Coast.
害羞草研究所淔rom a global perspective, the impact in Canada is pretty minimal compared to what happened in other parts of the world,害羞草研究所� 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, 害羞草研究所渘ot to mention the rolling delays that will occur as a result of this.害羞草研究所�
At Flair Airlines, the glitch caused 害羞草研究所淲indows to crash and show the blue screen of death害羞草研究所� at about 1 a.m. EDT, said Maciej Wilk, interim CEO of the discount carrier.
害羞草研究所淚t certainly ruined the night for several people here,害羞草研究所� 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.
害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 know what害羞草研究所檚 worse,害羞草研究所� traveller Robert Harris said in a social media post from Pearson, 害羞草研究所渢he ground stoppage or the fact that the Starbucks order ahead isn害羞草研究所檛 working. Both are causing massive lines.害羞草研究所�
Disruptions extended to health care, government offices and other agencies.
University Health Network in Toronto, one of Canada害羞草研究所檚 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.
Toronto害羞草研究所檚 Sunnybrook Hospital also reported it had been affected by the outage.
St. Joseph害羞草研究所檚 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.
害羞草研究所淲e have also become more vulnerable because of that concentration in just a few companies and a few pieces of vital technology,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 probably going to be days or weeks before we understand the full impact.害羞草研究所�
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 害羞草研究所渘ot disrupted to the best of our ability.害羞草研究所�
The government of Newfoundland and Labrador advised users of its digital platforms of possible service disruptions. The province害羞草研究所檚 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.
害羞草研究所淭he CBSA worked urgently with its partners and service providers to mitigate any disruptions and restore full service as quickly as possible,害羞草研究所� spokeswoman Jacqueline Roby wrote in a statement.
害羞草研究所淣o CBSA systems are affected at this time.害羞草研究所�
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 害羞草研究所渞eviewing the situation based on updates from their technology partners,害羞草研究所� a spokeswoman for the Canadian Bankers Association said.
害羞草研究所淎ny current impacts on banking services would be temporary,害羞草研究所� 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.
害羞草研究所淣othing is able to go through,害羞草研究所� he said, speaking in the lobby of a downtown Toronto office building. 害羞草研究所淚 am still not able to make trades.害羞草研究所�
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 害羞草研究所渢he tools and systems necessary to support our customers.害羞草研究所� The company was working with 害羞草研究所渢he utmost urgency害羞草研究所� 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 害羞草研究所渕inimal.害羞草研究所�
Microsoft 365 posted on social media platform X that the company was 害羞草研究所渨orking on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact害羞草研究所� and that they were 害羞草研究所渙bserving a positive trend in service availability.害羞草研究所�
CrowdStrike said it was working with customers hit by 害羞草研究所渁 defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淭his is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,害羞草研究所� 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 害羞草研究所渨arning sign害羞草研究所� to airlines and companies across the globe.
害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 no such thing as a fool-proof solution.害羞草研究所�
