Global Microsoft outage knocks 911 service offline across multiple US states

An outage due to a failure of CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity platform that provides cybersecurity solutions for Microsoft, has caused the 911 service to be unusable in multiple US states.

A major IT outage began unfolding globally only a matter of hours ago as the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which provides cybersecurity solutions to Microsoft for its Windows operating system, confirmed it experienced an issue that has resulted in many systems becoming unusable, including critical infrastructure such health services and emergency services.

The outage at CrowdStrike has affected many IT systems worldwide, including multiple countries such as India, Australia, Germany, and US emergency 911 services, along with select US airlines. The outage has seemingly hit Australia the hardest, as reports indicate some digital payments systems are now down, planes have been grounded, Sky News was knocked off the air, banks, telecommunications companies, and more.

"I am aware of a large-scale technical outage affecting a number of companies and services across Australia this afternoon. Our current information is this outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies," said Australia's National Cybersecurity coordinator Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness

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