Major IT outage across Australia brings down businesses

A widespread CrowdStrike outage has brought down Microsoft systems worldwide on Friday afternoon, affecting banks, supermarkets, telecommunications and airports.

According to Report, which cites Australian media outlets, the ongoing widespread outage is reportedly related to US-based cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike. Its ‘Falcon sensor’ is installed on many business computers to gather security data.

Payment systems have been impacted around the world with customers unable to use Apple Pay to pay for goods and services.

Customers at Coles and Woolworths have reported not being able to tap their cards at terminals. EFTPOS appears to be working at some outlets.

Betting systems have also been suspended including at TAB in Australia.

ANZ’s internet banking also reported an “industry-wide issue” affecting the processing of some payments, but traditional transfers via BSB and bank account numbers are not impacted.

Several NSW Police systems have gone down, restricting the ability of police to disseminate information, but the triple zero service remains operational.

A NSW Police spokesperson urged the public to only contact triple zero in an emergency. NSW Police will provide an update shortly on what systems have been impacted.

The outage has caused the grounding and cancellation of flights across the United States, and at Sydney Airport, customers have been told they can’t check in their bags.

Delays have swept across Sydney’s domestic and international terminals, hitting check ins during the peak Friday travel rush.

There’s reportedly no evidence to suggest the mass outage is a hack or cybersecurity incident.