AUS, CapMetro affected by global tech outage from Austin-based cybersecurity company

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Numerous state and local agencies were affected by a global technology outage that happened after a faulty software update issued by a cybersecurity company based in Austin Friday morning.

The update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike grounded flights, knocked banks offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world, according to reporting from the Associated Press.

CapMetro and the Austin Bergstrom International Airport were affected by the outage. Texas driver license offices and Department of Motor Vehicles offices are closed Friday because of the outage.

The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services across the globe. Company leaders said the issue was not caused by a security incident or cyberattack, that the issue was identified and a fix is in the works.

CrowdStrike’s Founder and CEO George Kurtz later released a statement regarding the outage .

I want to sincerely apologize directly to all of you for today’s outage. All of CrowdStrike understands the gravity and impact of the situation. We quickly identified the issue and deployed a fix, allowing us to focus diligently on restoring customer systems as our highest priority.

The outage was caused by a defect found in a Falcon content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This was not a cyberattack.

We are working closely with impacted customers and partners to ensure that all systems are restored, so you can deliver the services your customers rely on.

Kurtz said in part

AUS said Friday the outage affected airlines that serve the airport, and anyone flying out should check their flight status before heading to the airport.

Similar to other airports and industries globally, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is responding to an IT outage affecting our airline partners. While AUS IT systems remain unaffected, our teams have been working diligently with affected airlines to mitigate the effects of the outage and minimize disruptions to airport operations. We are seeing delays and cancellations due to the outage and we anticipate further disruptions as airlines work to resume normal operations.

Passengers should check the status of their flight before heading to the airport and continue to monitor communications from their respective airlines; if their flight is confirmed, passengers should allow extra time to arrive to the airport.

AUS statement

At least two American flights and one Delta flight departing from AUS were canceled early Friday morning. The FAA said several airlines including United, American, Delta and Allegiant had requested assistance with ground stops.

The FAA is closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines. Several airlines have requested FAA assistance with ground stops for their fleets until the issue is resolved. For more information, monitor fly.faa.gov for updates.

FAA statement

CapMetro also posted online at 5:13 a.m. that it was being impacted by the outage and that customers could experience delays. Shortly before 9 a.m. the service’s communication manager told KXAN over the phone their systems were back up.

Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License Offices across the state were also shut down “due to technical issues” Friday morning, according to a social media post from DPS . Customers with appointments were notified.

DPS said in the post IT teams are working on a fix, but there was no estimate on when the offices will open, and that customers should monitor DPS’ social media and website for updates.

The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles was also impacted by the global outage and said many department systems were unavailable Friday morning. “We are working to restore all services as soon as possible,” the DMV said in a post.

The Travis County Tax Office said that due to the DMV outages, all tax office locations would be closed Friday until at least 1 p.m.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on X at 4:45 a.m. Friday that the company is “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.”

“This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” Kurtz continued in the post. “The issue has been identified, 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 appeared on NBC’s TODAY show, expressing regret for the impact of outages and that the company had already released a patch.

“I want to start with saying we’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected by this, including our company,” Kurtz said. “We have identified this very quickly and remediated the issue…we are working with each and every customer to make sure that we can bring them back online. But this was the extent of an issue, in terms of the bug that was related to our update.”

The company is primarily based in Austin, though it operates mostly remote globally, according to its website . In 2021, it changed its designation of its principal executive office to Austin.

Police, government, emergency services impacts

KXAN reached out to local police departments and EMS services to ask if they’ve been impacted by the outages. So far, no local departments have reported patrol or response issues due to the outage.

The Austin Police Department said its computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems went down, and it switched to a secondary which is “standard procedure and practice.” APD said this did not impact patrol response.

The Travis County Sheriff’s Office had a similar experience with the outage, saying shortly before 10 a.m. that its overall system was back up and running, but the CAD system was impacted overnight. It did not impact every operator/dispatcher’s computer, and there was no delay in response to 911 calls. TCSO said IT worked immediately and overnight to get things up and running.

Williamson County government said it was affected overnight by the outage but it did not impact Williamson County Emergency Communications’ ability to answer 911 calls or dispatch appropriate first responders. Williamson County Technology Services Department worked through the night to bring systems back online.

The Georgetown and San Marcos police departments confirmed they experienced no issues caused by the outage.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said grid operations were not impacted, and that the grid is “operating under normal conditions with no reliability issues.”

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