Microsoft software outage affects Maryland courthouses, hospitals, and banks

BALTIMORE -- Airports, courthouses, banks, and hospitals felt the impact of a Microsoft software outage linked to the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

People trying to get married or file for divorce were turned away from courthouses across Maryland on Friday as clerks' offices closed statewide.

WJZ spoke with a member of a grand jury who was able to continue their duties, highlighting the sporadic nature of the services affected.

"It messes them (my plans) up completely. So, now I have to make another trip and come back down here to try to get and file for divorce," Letitia, a Philadelphia resident, said.

Letitia had planned her trip to Baltimore to file for divorce but will now have to wait until next week.

"They're telling me the Microsoft is down and I can't file, so what am I supposed to do?" she added.

The global computer outage centered on Microsoft systems has affected countless others statewide.

Melony Griffith, president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association, expressed her initial concerns.

"My very first thought was getting the understanding that this wasn't some sort of cyberattack-that this wasn't, you know, something someone had intentionally done to our hospitals and health systems," Griffith said.

Griffith stated it was unclear how many patients were affected.

"To be very clear, all hospitals across the state are open and operational, however some are canceling elective procedures," Griffith said.

LifeBridge Health rescheduled non-urgent procedures and surgeries at Sinai Hospital in North Baltimore. Sinai, Northwest, and Carroll hospitals opened command centers to manage operations. Johns Hopkins and MedStar Health reported no outages in their systems.

While 9-1-1 centers remained operational, several other state agencies experienced delays and service interruptions throughout the day.

Some banks also faced system outages in the morning. M&T Bank reported that services were restored by noon.

Governor Wes Moore stated he is closely monitoring the outages and receiving regular updates from his public safety and cybersecurity teams.