A worldwide IT outage has wreaked havoc across multiple sectors, including major banks, media outlets, airlines, and ports. The disruption has led to grounded flights, extensive delays at airports, and significant interruptions in shops and communications.

CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, has acknowledged that one of its updates caused the issue, affecting Microsoft Windows devices globally.

“CrowdStrike 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. This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” the company said.

“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.”

Poland’s largest container terminal Baltic Hub reported difficulties early on July 19, 2024. The terminal’s operations were impacted, but most systems have since been restored.

“Baltic Hub informs that on July 19, 2024 in the morning hours the terminal was affected by difficulties caused by a failure of operating systems. The failure was global and concerned an external software supplier used by Baltic Hub,” the company said.

“Currently, the operation of most systems in the terminal has been restored.”

In Suffolk, the outage has hit GPs, ports, and various companies, leading to widespread disruptions. BBC reports that the Port of Felixstowe has experienced issues.

“The Port of Felixstowe was affected by the global IT Crowdstrike issue at 05:40 on Friday 19 July but haulage operations have recommenced and we are working up to full capacity as soon as possible,” a port spokesperson confirmed to our news desk.

Greater Anglia train services reported problems with electronic ticketing at stations, while NHS Suffolk noted some difficulties at GP practices but urged patients to keep their appointments, BBC informed.

Meanwhile, DP World Southampton said in a statement that its operations were not impacted by the outage and were operating as normal.

In Rotterdam, the port’s vital maritime traffic handling remains unaffected, however, the port told WorldCargo News that some companies in the port, including a container terminal, that was not named, are faced with issues.

“The vital process for handling maritime traffic in the port of Rotterdam is unaffected by the IT disruption caused by a software update from CrowdStrike. The Harbour Master’s Division and nautical service providers remain operational. All crucial processes in the port continue without interruption. However, some companies in the port, including a container terminal, are experiencing issues due to the disruption and have adjusted their processes. They are working on a solution,” the statement from the port reads.

Maersk has also faced issues due to the outage.

“We can confirm that Maersk also was affected by the global IT outage. The issues briefly affected some of our operated terminals, but all were back in operations within a few hours,” a Maersk spokesperson said in a comment.

The Port Authority of Antwerp-Bruges said in a statement to WCN that it was not affected by the tech outages and has not received any alerts from companies/terminals in the port so far. A similar situation was confirmed by the Port of Hamburg.

Meanwhile, as the situation continues to develop, North Carolina Ports issued a statement saying it was “experiencing issues” due to the global IT outages.

“We anticipate some delays servicing trucks this morning but our team is actively bringing systems back online,” NC Ports said.

We are monitoring this situation closely and will continue to send out alerts and update our customers as systems are restored.”

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This rticle has been updated with the statements from the Port of Felixstowe, Maersk and NCP since its original publication.

A worldwide IT outage has wreaked havoc across multiple sectors, including major banks, media outlets, airlines, and ports. The disruption has led to grounded flights, extensive delays at airports, and significant interruptions in shops and communications.

CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, has acknowledged that one of its updates caused the issue, affecting Microsoft Windows devices globally.

“CrowdStrike 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. This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” the company said.

“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.”

Poland’s largest container terminal Baltic Hub reported difficulties early on July 19, 2024. The terminal’s operations were impacted, but most systems have since been restored.

“Baltic Hub informs that on July 19, 2024 in the morning hours the terminal was affected by difficulties caused by a failure of operating systems. The failure was global and concerned an external software supplier used by Baltic Hub,” the company said.

“Currently, the operation of most systems in the terminal has been restored.”

In Suffolk, the outage has hit GPs, ports, and various companies, leading to widespread disruptions. BBC reports that the Port of Felixstowe has experienced issues.

“The Port of Felixstowe was affected by the global IT Crowdstrike issue at 05:40 on Friday 19 July but haulage operations have recommenced and we are working up to full capacity as soon as possible,” a port spokesperson confirmed to our news desk.

Greater Anglia train services reported problems with electronic ticketing at stations, while NHS Suffolk noted some difficulties at GP practices but urged patients to keep their appointments, BBC informed.

Meanwhile, DP World Southampton said in a statement that its operations were not impacted by the outage and were operating as normal.

In Rotterdam, the port’s vital maritime traffic handling remains unaffected, however, the port told WorldCargo News that some companies in the port, including a container terminal, that was not named, are faced with issues.

“The vital process for handling maritime traffic in the port of Rotterdam is unaffected by the IT disruption caused by a software update from CrowdStrike. The Harbour Master’s Division and nautical service providers remain operational. All crucial processes in the port continue without interruption. However, some companies in the port, including a container terminal, are experiencing issues due to the disruption and have adjusted their processes. They are working on a solution,” the statement from the port reads.

Maersk has also faced issues due to the outage.

“We can confirm that Maersk also was affected by the global IT outage. The issues briefly affected some of our operated terminals, but all were back in operations within a few hours,” a Maersk spokesperson said in a comment.

The Port Authority of Antwerp-Bruges said in a statement to WCN that it was not affected by the tech outages and has not received any alerts from companies/terminals in the port so far. A similar situation was confirmed by the Port of Hamburg.

Meanwhile, as the situation continues to develop, North Carolina Ports issued a statement saying it was “experiencing issues” due to the global IT outages.

“We anticipate some delays servicing trucks this morning but our team is actively bringing systems back online,” NC Ports said.

We are monitoring this situation closely and will continue to send out alerts and update our customers as systems are restored.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

This rticle has been updated with the statements from the Port of Felixstowe, Maersk and NCP since its original publication.