A “significant” number of the 8.5 million devices affected by last week’s global IT outage are back online, according to the cybersecurity firm at the centre of the incident.
CrowdStrike said it was also testing a technique to reboot systems more quickly, amid warnings from experts that a full recovery from Friday’s IT outage could take weeks.
On Friday, thousands of flights were canceled, media outlets were forced off the air, medical appointments were disrupted and millions of computers failed to boot after a CrowdStrike software update inadvertently crippled devices running the Microsoft Windows operating system.
CrowdStrike wrote in a social media update that it had made progress in addressing the fallout from a flaw that, According to an experthad caused “the largest IT disruption in history.”
“Of the approximately 8.5 million Windows devices that were affected, a significant number are now back online and operational,” the US company said.
CrowdStrike remains focused on restoring all systems as quickly as possible. Of the approximately 8.5 million Windows devices that were affected, a significant number are back online and operational.
Together with our clients, we tested a new technique to accelerate the impact…
— CrowdStrike (@CrowdStrike) July 21, 2024
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CrowdStrike remains focused on restoring all systems as quickly as possible. Of the approximately 8.5 million Windows devices that were affected, a significant number are back online and operational.
Together with our clients, we tested a new technique to accelerate the impact…
— CrowdStrike (@CrowdStrike) July 21, 2024
CrowdStrike added that it was testing a new method to “speed up the remediation of affected systems” and working to make it easier for businesses and organizations to access the technique.
On Sunday, Australia’s home affairs minister said CrowdStrike was “close to rolling out an automatic fix to the issue with its update, as is Microsoft.”
On Friday, experts warned that repairs to affected computers would have to be done manually, potentially prolonging recovery.
More than 9,600 flights They have been cancelled all over the world since Friday, according to flight data company OAG, with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines accounting for nearly half of that total, while 45 flights were canceled in the U.K. on Saturday.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the problem had affected a critical application in its computer system. “In particular, one of our crew tracking-related tools was impacted and was unable to effectively process the unprecedented amount of changes brought on by the system shutdown,” he told customers.
Europe’s largest airline, Ryanair, said it had cancelled 400 flights this weekend, mainly due to the fallout from the computer system outage.
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In the UK, the National Health Service in England warned of delays as healthcare services recovered from the disruption. It said patients with appointments for this week should continue to attend unless told otherwise.
The British Medical Association said on Sunday that normal GP services could not resume immediately after computer problems caused a significant delay.
An NHS spokesperson said: “Systems are now back online… Thanks to the hard work of NHS staff during this incident, we hope to keep further disruption to a minimum, however there may still be some delays as services recover, particularly with GPs needing to reschedule appointments, so please bear with us.”
Pharmacy services were expected to be “slower than usual” in the UK on Monday as the recovery continued.
Nick Kaye, president of the National Pharmacy Association, said: “As pharmacists recover from last week’s IT disruption and catch up on the backlog of prescriptions, we expect service in some community pharmacies to be slower than usual today.”
Kaye asked customers to “be patient” with their local pharmacy teams.