Area leaders say worldwide tech outage is creating only minor issues locally

A glitch that caused a worldwide technology outage is being treated more as a nuisance than a cyberattack, according to the company from where the issues arose.

Locally and across Virginia, the impact of that outage appears to be minimal. Gov. Glenn Youngkin said an initial assessment found “critical health and safety systems ... are operational” but certain systems within state government are experiencing what he called “significant disruptions.

“We are coordinating with local, regional and federal authorities and private sector critical infrastructure partners in order to reestablish normal operations,” Youngkin said in a statement released by his office Friday morning. “As a result of the administrative disturbances, Virginians may experience delays and we ask everyone to remain patient as we work to remedy and reestablish the high standards that Virginians deserve.”

CrowdStrike, a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm, said the issue stemmed from a defect in a recent content update that disrupted the Microsoft Windows operating system. Because Windows has an approximately 70% market share of desktop systems worldwide, that defect spread quickly.

In a statement, CrowdStrike said the problem was immediately isolated “and a fix has been deployed.” However, residual effects from the outage were expected to hamper normal computer usages for the time being.

Airlines and banks were among the most impacted businesses. Hundreds of flights worldwide were grounded, according to USA TODAY .

Hospitals in Staunton, Augusta County and Waynesboro respond to outage

Sentara Health

Below is a statement from Mike Kafka, director of corporate communications & public relations for Sentara Health:

“We are closely monitoring the IT outage linked to the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Sentara does not utilize CrowdStrike so our IT systems are not directly impacted. However, we are currently in the process of evaluating the impact on third-party providers and partner organizations who do work with this vendor. Normal operations remain in process at Sentara hospitals and facilities.”

Augusta Health remains fully operational

Augusta Health is operating without issue but is "closely monitoring" the outage, the company said in a statement. Patient care is not affected.

“Today, a major worldwide software outage has affected many, but Augusta Health has been fortunate with minor interruptions,” said Leigh Williams, Augusta Health assistant chief information officer. “Augusta Health can access all clinical systems, including patient health records and scheduling.”

Augusta Health will continue to monitor the situation closely and share updates on any changes in operations, the release said.

Staunton city government still online

The city of Staunton was not majorly affected by the outage.

"The city does not generally use CrowdStrike," said Communications Manager Josh Knight. "We've had a couple of minor issues, but nothing major has been impacted like 911, phones, or email."

Local law enforcement agencies said they have not been affected by the software outage.

This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as they become available.

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This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Area leaders say worldwide tech outage is creating only minor issues locally