Airlines, banks and media companies have been facing many problems worldwide today (July 19) due to a global IT outage which resulted in massive delays and entire organisations going offline. While the outage is directly correlated with Microsoft devices, it has now been confirmed why the outage occurred.
What caused the IT outage?
Some reports have named Crowdstrike as the culprit, a cybersecurity company that offers antivirus software. There has been a recent system update which could have been bugged, resulting in Microsoft devices showing blue error screens.
As a result, UK companies, government institutions and airports such as Sky News, CBBC, NHS, Gatwick Airport, Luton Airport, Edinburgh Airport and more have been affected.
What is more, supermarkets like Morrisons have also been having problems with payment. It has also been reported that Sky News has since been able to go back on air.
Edinburgh Airport has reported significant issues affected by the global IT outage, stating on its website: “Potential disruptions across the network (Fri 19 July) due to a global 3rd party system outage.
Affected passengers will be notified and any passengers travelling across the network on Fri 19 July should check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight. We advise passengers to arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance of their flight to avoid any disruptions.
We regret any inconvenience caused to passengers by this 3rd party IT issue, which is outside of Ryanair’s control and affects all airlines operating across the network.”
“An IT system outage means wait times are longer than usual at the airport. This outage is affecting many other businesses, including airports. Work is ongoing to resolve this and our teams are on hand to assist where we can. Passengers are thanked for their patience.”
How has Glasgow been affected by the global IT outage?
So, it looks like Glasgow is holding up pretty well apart from the UK companies already affected. ScotRail services are running smoothly and Glasgow Airport is mostly doing fine with some retailers only taking cash and airlines doing manual check-ins.
Glasgow Airport posted on X: “We are largely unaffected by the current global IT issues. At present a small number of airlines have moved to manual check-in and some retailers are only accepting cash payments.”
What is more, most rail companies in the UK are unaffected, but do check in advance if you have to travel today.
However, plenty of businesses will be affected by not being able to take card payments today, so maybe just carry a wee bit of cash with you, will ya?