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Global IT outage causes widespread service disruptions, some Pearson flights and all Porter Airlines flights affected

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TORONTO, July 19, 2024 – Porter Airlines has announced that they are cancelling flights until 12 p.m. ET, for July 19, 2024, due to third-party systems outages affecting global industries.

Passengers are being told they will not be able to rebook flights until the system is back online. Additionally, the rebooking process could take several hours or days due to the high volume of passengers affected by this widespread outage.

Other Canadian airlines – Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing, Flair – have not been affected but American, Delta and United Airlines have also been affected as well as some European airlines such as KLM and airlines in Manchester, India, Hong Kong and Thailand have been checking in customers manually.

The outage has been attributed to CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity software company, whose update on Microsoft 365 apps and services, is causing computers to crash and fail to reboot.

CEO George Kurtz took to “X” to reassure the public that the widespread IT outage is not caused by a cyber attack.

“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted,” said Kurtz. “This is not a security incident or cyberattack.

CrowdStrike’s CEO says their team has isolated the glitch and is in the process of repairing it.

“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,” continued Kurtz on “X”.

What should affected Porter passengers do?

Affected Porter Airlines passengers are being asked to consult “My Bookings” on flyporter.com once the system is back up and running. “Call Centre agents do not have access to reservation and booking information,” reads a statement from Porter.

Porter says all passengers needing to cancel travel plans as a direct result of the systems issued will be offered refunds.

Visit http://flyporter.com for more information and updates. Refunds will be processed at a later date. Porter is working on returning service as quickly as possible.

What else did the CrowdStrike outage affect

Other local area services and outlets being affected include: Alectra, Durham College, Massey Hall, North York General, University Health Network in Toronto.

Around the world

Australia was adversely affected by the outage with AP reporting, “Australia appeared to be severely affected by the issue. Disruption reported on the site DownDetector included the banks NAB, Commonwealth and Bendigo, and the airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas, as well as internet and phone providers such as Telstra.”

Some national news outlets in Australia including SkyNews and ABC were also down for hours. Britain also reported that their National Health Service was affected along with airlines, railways, pharmacies and television stations. Services in the UK operated by Avanti West Coast, Gatwick Express, Great Western Railway, Southern and Thameslink also were among those affected by the outage.

Meanwhile, in Germany and Israel some hospitals were affected, along with Israel’s postal service. Major banks in New Zealand and South Africa were also affected by the outage, including Kiwibank and ASB.

Toronto transit systems okay

Local Toronto transit systems have not been affected. Presto cards can still be used at stations but reloading them online is being affected during this outage.

– with notes from Associated Press, BBC and CTV

Other articles from totimes.ca – otttimes.ca – mtltimes.ca

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