A widespread technology outage has disrupted businesses and institutions worldwide, affecting airports, airlines, rail companies, government services, banks, stock exchanges, supermarkets, telecoms, health systems, and media outlets.

The disruption was caused by an update to a product from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which led to crashes in machines running the Microsoft Windows operating system. The issue was linked to CrowdStrike’s Falcon sensor product, with engineers identifying a “content deployment problem,” according to spokesperson Michael Hull.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz stated on Friday that the company is “actively working” with affected customers, emphasizing that this is not a security incident or cyberattack. Microsoft confirmed that the “underlying cause” of the global outage has been “fixed,” but residual impacts are still affecting some Office 365 apps and services.

The outages have had significant repercussions on transportation systems globally. In the United States, major airlines such as Delta, United, and American Airlines were grounded due to a communication issue, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. In Australia, flight information screens at Sydney Airport went blank, causing delays, while Melbourne Airport reported disruptions to check-in procedures. Airports in the United Kingdom, Germany, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines also faced service disruptions.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, reported impacts on flights but was uncertain about the extent of the disruption. All airports in Spain experienced disruptions, according to the airport operator Aena. Air France’s operations were affected, though flights already en route were not impacted. In Hong Kong, airlines switched to manual check-ins to maintain flight operations.

The outage also affected multiple other sectors, including banks and financial institutions in Australia, India, and South Africa, which warned clients about service disruptions. Australia’s largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, reported issues with customer money transfers.

In the UK, the London Stock Exchange faced a technical glitch that affected its news service and delayed the display of opening trades. Media companies such as Australia’s ABC and Network Ten, as well as the UK’s Sky News, experienced broadcast disruptions.

Government services were not spared, with the UK’s medical booking systems going offline and the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reporting system impacts, advising users to refrain from transactions. In Australia, Victoria’s state police reported internal system hits, though emergency services remained operational. New Zealand’s parliamentary computer systems were also affected.

Amazon’s AWS cloud service provider announced investigations into connectivity issues with Windows EC2 instances and Workspaces within AWS, indicating further potential ramifications.

As some businesses and systems begin to recover, the full extent of the disruption’s impact continues to unfold.