JUST IN: Mass IT outage hits banks, airlines, other global institutions

Major global institutions have reported suffering a mass IT outage that has crippled operations and impacted customers.

The institutions include international airlines, major banks, media outlets and hospitals.

Some states in the US Friday said emergency services were affected, while several of the country’s airlines have grounded their flights around the world.

Reports said Australia, which has been particularly hard hit, has recorded broadcast networks scrambling on air as systems failed and supermarkets crippled.

Although it is now back on air—with a slate apologising for an “interruption to this broadcast”— Sky News went completely off air as a result of the issues.

The cause of the outage is unclear, but many of those impacted have linked it to Microsoft PC operating systems.

“We are investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services,” an official Microsoft 365 service update posted to X earlier in the day said. But a Microsoft spokesperson told the BBC on Friday that “the majority of services were recovered” hours earlier.

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Social media users earlier reported queues at Australian stores like Woolworths, with payment systems downed. Other customers also had trouble accessing financial institutions like the National Australia Bank.

Details later…