Global Microsoft outage affects DFW Airport operations, other North Texas businesses
DALLAS - A global internet outage is causing big problems for airlines, retail stores, banks, gas stations and even DPS offices here in North Texas.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said the massive worldwide outage was not a cyberattack or a security incident. It says the issue was caused by a faulty Microsoft Windows update that has since been fixed.
Still, millions of people continue feeling the effects.
Problems were first reported late Thursday night after services to major airlines in the United States — including American, Delta, and United — were knocked out. All three issued ground stops.
American Airlines said it re-established operations early Friday morning. Delta and United appear to be still working things out.
By Friday afternoon, FlightAware reported 140 canceled flights into and out of DFW Airport and 644 delayed flights.
"There's confusion everywhere. It's chaotic. It's a mess," one traveler told FOX 4. "You can look around and scan the crowd and see how chaotic it is."
DFW Airport urges anyone planning to fly on Friday to allow extra time and to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Southwest Airlines operations at Love Field appeared to be less affected, with only seven flights canceled and 117 delays.
"An error that prevents the users of Windows devices running that CrowdStrike software from accessing their computer, from logging in and using the tools and so on," explained cybersecurity expert Vahid Behzadan.
Major global outage hits airlines, banks, businesses – what to know
Growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and airlines including American Airlines and Delta have been reported. Here's what Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said about the issue.
Downdetector.com, which tracks user-reported disruptions to internet services, found that a variety of companies using Microsoft cloud-based services were impacted.
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles canceled all appointments Friday after being locked out of their computers.
Some gas stations, including a Quik Trip in Dallas, closed early Friday morning due to technical issues.
Even TxDOT traffic cameras were down during the morning rush hour.
"I can't see any cameras through there just because of these outages that we're seeing worldwide," said FOX 4 Traffic Reporter Chip Waggoner.
Microsoft 365 says the underlying cause has been fixed but added that the residual impact is continuing to affect some of its apps and services.
Behzadan calls the global outage deeply concerning with millions of people suddenly disconnected.
"Significant adverse impact on day-to-day life around the world. So the impact is nothing short of some form of cyberattack," he said.
Gov. Greg Abbott said critical services like 911 emergency systems remain functional.
The White House says it is in regular contact with CrowdStrike's executive team and is tracking progress on fixing affected systems.