A major IT failure has caused massive disruptions to, among others, airlines, stock exchanges, and stores worldwide on Friday.
Despite the error being reported as resolved, problems are expected to continue in some areas over the weekend.
The disruptions were first noticed on Thursday and spread rapidly around the world on Friday. Several industries are reporting major and serious problems.
The incident is linked to a global cybersecurity company, Crowdstrike, and affects Microsoft's Windows operating system. According to Microsoft, the problem is now solved, but many users still experience disruptions.
Flights affected
Among others, global air traffic has been affected by the error. Several airlines have cancelled flights, and in some cases, check-in has had to be done with handwritten boarding cards. In the US, flights from companies such as Delta, United, and American Airlines have been grounded, awaiting new instructions. According to Bloomberg, the delays risk affecting air traffic over the weekend.
In Europe, several airlines have been forced to cancel departures, as communication has not been possible. In Stockholm, consequences have arisen, affecting the booking system.
The financial market has also experienced major problems during the day, resulting in significantly lower trading volumes than usual, reports Bloomberg. Parts of the London Stock Exchange's operations have been affected, although trading is said to have been possible.
Met with blue screen
Nasdaq, which includes the Stockholm Stock Exchange, is reported not to have been affected by any problems.
Besides the stock exchange and air traffic, TV stations, banks, and hospitals worldwide have been affected. Even self-scanning systems in some food stores have stopped functioning.
The problems occur in PC users who have Crowdstrike installed on their computers. After an update, users are met with a blue screen with an error message. Crowdstrike claims to have resolved the problems by removing the update. There are no suspicions that a cyberattack caused the disruptions.
