A major cybersecurity firm has blamed a faulty system update amid a Friday morning technology outage that disrupted the operations of major airlines, media companies, banks, medical facilities and telecoms firms around the globe. Crowdstrike , a U.S. firm that advertises being used by over half of Fortune 500 companies, said one of its recent content updates had a defect that impacted Microsoft's Windows Operating System, adding that the incident was "not a security incident or cyberattack."
"The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed," said a statement from Crowdstrike. Microsoft, meanwhile, said "the underlying cause has been fixed," but that residual impacts continue to affect some of its Microsoft 365 apps and services.
In the U.S., hundreds of flights were canceled Friday morning . American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines were among those who grounded flights less than an hour after Microsoft said it resolved a cloud-services-related outage that impacted several low-cost carriers.
Here's the latest impacts the outage is have in Rochester and New York:
As ticket sales have launched for the February 2025 one-night performance of Thorgy Thor & The Thorchestra , the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's online ticketing system stopped operating Friday, as part of the widespread outage. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets should instead call (585) 454-2100.
The show - set for Feb. 13, 2025 at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre - will also feature the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and special guests including the Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus and other community groups.
County workers scrambled Friday morning, working to bring about 3,500 devices back online that were impacted by the worldwide cybersecurity CrowdStrike disruption while also trying to ensure public safety operations are not affected.
The county's emergency 911 functions were impacted but are operational, Monroe County Executive Adam Bello said at a mid-morning news conference . Anyone calling 911 should wait if put on hold, and the calls will be answered, he said.
The outage's most significantly impacted operations such as the County Clerk's Office or Department of Motor Vehicles offices, which deal with the public in face-to-face operations, according to Bello. He said he hopes the county operations will again be functioning by Monday.
According to Bello, about 3,500 county devices were affected. By 10 a.m., county informational technology workers were able to get about 500 of those back online.
Also at the news conference, Andy Moore, the director of the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport, said that roughly one-third of flights were delayed or canceled by 10 a.m. Customers should work with their airlines, just as with other delays, to resolve flight impediments.
City of Rochester officials said that most - but not all - systems remained functional as a result of the CrowdStrike outage. The city's IT Department continues to address the problems.
All public safety systems, including police and fire, remain fully functional and are using backup systems for some tasks. Refuse and recycling pickup and water systems are fully functional. Payment windows at City Hall remain open, and the City Clerk’s office will be open but some services may be delayed.
The City of Rochester’s parking, traffic violations and building/zoning permit offices rely on external technology systems that were impacted by the outage. Those so offices will be closed Friday.
Also, Rochester's 311 system is not working, so use the 311Live online service platform.
New York’s chief cyber officer Colin Ahern said Friday that the state was aware of an issue affecting “Windows computers running a third party security software tool,” and that this was “not a security incident or cyberattack.”
The state is working with all parties, including local governments, to get impacted systems back online, he said.
“Our priority is to ensure all 911 systems across New York are operational and able to address emergency response needs,” Ahern said.
The state does not yet have a timeline for full restoration, he added, but Gov. Kathy Hochul was “closely monitoring impacts to critical infrastructure, including finance and transportation.”
Albany International Airport
Albany International Airport posted on X Friday, saying airlines that operate out of the airport were experiencing computer issues related to the outage.
"Passengers may experience delays due to the airline computer issue," the post read.
Buffalo and Erie County
In western New York, Erie County’s 911 services remained operational Friday morning, but the state system needed for county's Department of Motor Vehicle or Department of Social Services appointments in Erie County are “inoperable,” County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Friday.
“We will not be able to help you until the state system is back online,” he added. “Please do not come to any office for these services until we advise the system is back online.”
The Buffalo Niagara International Airport “didn’t have any major issues due to this outage” Friday, a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesperson said - there were a few cancellations and delays out of the airport Friday morning.
Syracuse
Officials at the Syracuse Hancock International Airport said that some airlines are experiencing delays or cancellations.
University of Rochester Medical Center
At 11:54 a.m., URMC issued a statement that emergency and inpatient care at Strong Memorial Hospital were continuing without interruption and that MyChart was available. However, multiple computers that support clinical functions were down and the facility's IT team was working on fixes.
The statement also read: "As of 11:45 a.m., all outpatient clinics and Urgent Care sites in Monroe County are open. Nearly all elective surgical procedures scheduled for today are taking place, with schedule delays at most locations. About half of our lab patient service centers are open, with the rest expected to open later today, and our patient call centers are working at less than normal capacity."
Status updates will be posted to MyChart, UR Medicine social media accounts and the URMC Newsroom page during the day.
URMC reiterated that the health system's electronic medical record system was not affected by the outage.
At Highland Hospital, the "Epic electronic medical record system is not affected." However, multiple computers that support clinical functions are down.
FF Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua, also part of UR Medicine, posted to its website that all hospital departments, primary care offices and urgent care centers are fully operational. “However, there may be delays associated with this IT disruption, which we are working diligently to fix as soon as possible.”
Rochester Regional Health
Rochester Regional Health said that all of the health system's hospitals are "fully operational" and that the CrowdStrike IT outage "has shown minimal impact on our systems."
Patients with scheduled procedures and appointments should continue with those as planned.
Numerous Monroe County facilities are closed to the public Friday because of the global CrowdStrike Windows outage, the county announced in a written statement.
It also said that 911 and emergency communications are operating with backup systems. If people call 911 and calls are not answered immediately, they should not hang up, because calls are being answered in order.
The Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport is open, but travelers should check their flights for cancelations or delays.
The following offices are closed today:
∎ Monroe County Office Building
∎ Monroe County Clerk’s Office (in the county office building)
∎ All Department of Motor Vehicles branches
∎ Department of Human Services, 111 Westfall Road
∎ Department of Public Health public-facing operations, including Vital records and all health clinics
Anyone requiring assistance or emergency housing should call (585) 442-1742.
The following county facilities are open:
∎ Monroe County Court System; all jurors should report.
∎ Seneca Park Zoo
∎ Monroe County parks
∎ Department of Transportation
∎ Medical Examiner’s Office
∎ Department of Environmental Services
∎ Probation
∎ Monroe Community Hospital
Further updates will be provided as information becomes available.
Air passengers around the world faced delays, cancellations and problems checking in as airports and airlines were caught up in a massive IT outage.
Several U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, issued ground stops for all their flights early on Friday due to communication problems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
There were over 500 flights canceled and more than 1,100 delays as of 6 a.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware .
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Microsoft outage hits airlines, banks and more in New York. Live updates
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