Banks, airlines and media affected by global power outage linked to Windows PCs

Businesses including banks, airlines, telecoms companies, radio and TV broadcasters and supermarkets have been taken offline after Blue Screen of Death error screens appeared on Windows workstations around the world.

Users of the Crowdstrike cybersecurity firm’s subreddit reported issues in India, the United States and New Zealand.

Sky News in the UK reported it was off air on Friday morning, with Sky News sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao posting on X: “Obviously we’re not on air, we’re trying.”

Melbourne Airport has informed customers that it is “experiencing a global technology issue that is affecting some airlines’ check-in procedures” and advised passengers to “allow extra time to check in”.

A major UK rail company has warned passengers they will experience problems as it is experiencing “widespread IT issues”. All four Govia Thameslink Railway brands (Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern) posted on social media: “We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our network.

“Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the issue. We are unable to access conductor diagrams in certain locations, resulting in potential cancellations at short notice, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.

“In addition, other key systems, including our real-time customer information platforms, are also affected.

“We will provide you with additional updates when we can. In the meantime, please check your travel information regularly before you travel.”

Users in Australia began reporting problems early on Friday afternoon AEST, claiming they had been left locked out of their workstations, while Australian banking apps and supermarket systems were also affected.

Australian broadcasters Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Sky News confirmed they were experiencing transmission difficulties as a result.

An email sent to staff at Australia’s national broadcaster, seen by Guardian Australia, said Windows terminals across the country are experiencing blue screens of death, causing problems in some TV and radio studios.

Crowdstrike has reported that blue screens of death have been observed in multiple locations and says the cause is currently being investigated. The company has said the issue is related to its Falcon Sensor product and that engineering teams are working to resolve it, according to a support notice.

The company later posted that engineers had identified the issue as a content deployment problem and had reverted the changes.

Australia’s national cyber security coordinator, Lieutenant General Michelle McGuinness, confirmed that government advice suggested it was a third-party software issue.

“I am aware of a large-scale technical outage affecting multiple businesses and services across Australia this afternoon,” he posted on X.

“Our current information is that this outage is related to a technical issue with a third-party software platform used by the affected companies.”

The Guardian has contacted Crowdstrike and Microsoft.

Microsoft reported on Friday that users might not be able to access its cloud-based 365 application services. It was a tough day for the tech giant with a Cloud outage grounds airlines in the United States earlier in the day in what is believed to be an unrelated matter.

More to come.