Microsoft Photo: AFP/File/DENIS CHARLET
Microsoft has told The Citizen is working around the clock to resolve not one, but two outages affecting its customers globally.
The outages 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.
However, Microsoft said its teams are working on resolving the issues.
“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.
Separately, 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.
ALSO READ: Capitec, Airlink hit by Microsoft global outage
In South Africa, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in Sandton, Capitec Bank and Airlink have been experiencing issues.
Capitec told The Citizen it experienced significant disruptions across all its banking channels due to the global downtime incident involving Crowdstrike, a key technology service provider.
“Since early this morning, clients have faced difficulties accessing various banking services, including online banking, mobile app transactions, and card payments.
“Our tech team has worked quickly to resolve the problem – we are pleased to report that all our banking has now been fully restored. Importantly, we want to reassure our clients that their bank accounts and personal data remain secure and unaffected by this incident,” Capitec said.
Meanwhile, the City of Tshwane said its call centre is currently experiencing limited systems access due to the global outage and unsteady internet functionality.
“The city would like to apologise to customers who cannot get through to our Call Centre no. 012 358 -9999 and all our official email addresses.”
The City of Tshwane said residents could reach officials on www.e-tshwane.co.za to log service requests, capture meter readings and view accounts;
Meanwhile, cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz said they have deployed a fix for an issue that triggered a major tech outage that affected industries ranging from airlines to banking to healthcare worldwide, the company.
“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, and isolated and a fix has been deployed.
We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers,” Kurtz said.
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