A worldwide IT outage has impacted the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with travel disruption, some GP appointments being affected and some shops only accepting cash.
Financial services, travel companies, airports, trains and institutions around the globe have been unable to function normally, caused by a faulty update to Microsoft Windows operating systems by cybersecurity software by Crowdstrike.
Crowdstrike shares open 15% down – a loss in value of ~$12.5bn
Microsoft says that the underlying cause has been fixed for its apps and services, but the ‘residual impact’ is continuing to affect some services. They said that the issue was due to “an update from a third-party software platform” – now known to be Crowdstrike.
In a Twitter/X statement from Crowdstrike’s CEO, George Kurtz, he says “this is not a security incident or cyberattack”, but initially offered no apology. In the USA, Crowdstrike’s shares opened 15% down – equal to a loss in value of ~$12.5bn.
Delta Airlines alone have had to cancel more than 4,000 and 8.5m Windows devices affected
Locally, the Jersey Cyber Security Centre (JCSC) is supporting the response to two separate cyber security incidents which are causing widespread disruption, including effects in Jersey.
JCSC is responsible for preventing, protecting and defending the Island against cyber-attacks. As well as providing information and advice, JCSC also gathers intelligence to protect the Island, and provides direct support in the event of a high-profile cyber-attack.
Matt Palmer, Director of JCSC, said: “These two cyber incidents have caused widespread disruption on a global scale. An issue with Microsoft Azure/Microsoft 365 means that many businesses lost access to the services they need to run effectively. This has now been resolved by Microsoft, but there are ongoing effects.
“A separate issue with an update to Crowdstrike (widely-used IT security software) has left affected machines non-functional. There is a way to fix this issue, but it will take some time to implement.
“Both of these issues might seem far removed from our day-to-day lives, but we know they are affecting people in Jersey. Islanders who are travelling might experience disruptions at UK or other off-Island airports. Some on-Island GP surgeries and pharmacies are affected, and people attending today may experience delays or disruption.
“I would urge all Islanders to be patient: we know there are dozens of people working hard to assess and resolve this issue, and that staff in affected businesses will be doing their best to deal with the disruptions.”
JCSC is working closely with the Government of Jersey and other agencies. JCSC’s systems are unaffected, so they are available to offer advice and guidance, either by phone (01534 500 050) or by email (incidentreports@jcsc.je).
JCSC advises what you can do
If you’re affected by the Microsoft Office 365 issue, it should now be resolved.
If you’re affected by the issue with Crowdstrike, you can fix it if you are an IT professional, but it will take some time. For each affected machine, you’ll need to:
- Boot Windows into Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment
- Open C:\Windows\System32\drivers\CrowdStrike directory
- Locate the file C-00000291*.sys and delete it
- Start the computer normally
You’ll need to provide your BitLocker key to implement the fix, so make sure that you have it to hand.
