ACSA says airports unaffected by Microsoft global outage

The Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) has assured South Africans that operations at its airports around the country are operating normally and have not been impacted by the global Microsoft outage.

The outage linked to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike hit computers around the world on Friday morning, affecting airlines, hospitals, retailers and other businesses.

At the heart of it, there have been two issues in quick succession involving widely used Microsoft systems, and some users may have been affected by both of them.

Not affected

Acsa said it does not use CrowdStrike services.

“We want to assure all stakeholders and the public that the Acsa airport network remains unaffected by this outage with operations running as normal. Acsa relies on cutting-edge, state-of-the-art cyber protection capabilities to ensure the security and continuity of operations.

“Our robust cybersecurity measures are designed to safeguard against a wide range of threats, ensuring seamless functioning of our critical infrastructure. We remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of cybersecurity and operational excellence,” Acsa.

Acsa added that its airport management team are monitoring the situation closely.

“In view of the widespread impact of the global outage, we would like to encourage all travellers to contact their respective airlines for further flight information. Travellers are also encouraged to download the Acsa mobile app and subscribe for live flight notifications.”

ALSO READ: Microsoft working on global outages, Capitec says banking services restored

Microsoft working to restore services

Meanwhile, Microsoft told The Citizen it is working around the clock to resolve the two outages affecting its customers globally.

“We are aware of an issue affecting a subset of customers. We acknowledge the impact this can have on customers, and we are working to restore services for those still experiencing disruptions as quickly as possible,” said Microsoft’s spokesperson on Friday.

In a separate incident on Friday, many Windows devices experienced problems involving CrowdStrike, impacting Windows machines.

“We’re aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform,” said the spokesperson.

“We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming,” said the spokesperson.

In South Africa, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in Sandton, Capitec Bank and Airlink have also experienced issues.

ALSO READ: Capitec, Airlink hit by Microsoft global outage