From travel to healthcare: Global impact of CrowdStrike's outage explained
A software update by US cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, triggered a major global IT disruption. The incident occurred two months ago on July 19, and continues to have significant repercussions for sectors like travel and healthcare. The faulty update affected approximately 8.5 million computers running on Microsoft systems worldwide. Adam Meyers, a senior manager at CrowdStrike, is scheduled to appear before the US Congress today to provide an explanation for the incident, and discuss preventive measures for future occurrences.
IT outage severely impacts healthcare services
The IT outage significantly disrupted GP (medical) services in England and Northern Ireland. Dr. David Wrigley, a GP with over two decades of experience, told the BBC that the most severe cases involved potential delays in cancer treatments. He described it as "a very difficult period of time with very little help and support." Wrigley has urged NHS England and the UK government to provide more support to GPs should such an incident occur again.
Doctors forced to revert to traditional methods
The IT disruption prevented GPs from using the EMIS system, a digital platform for managing appointments and patient records, as well as sending prescriptions to pharmacies. The British Medical Association (BMA) described the CrowdStrike outage as "one of the toughest single days in recent times for GPs across England," forcing doctors to revert to pen and paper. At Wrigley's practice, computer issues persisted for four days, creating a backlog that delayed urgent tasks like writing referral letters for patients.
Cancer treatment, radiotherapy sessions hampered
The IT disruption caused significant delays in cancer treatment and other medical services. In Surrey, 50 patients scheduled for radiotherapy treatment on the day of the outage, were forced to reschedule their appointments. A spokesperson from NHS Royal Surrey Trust confirmed that all urgent cases were seen within 24 hours. However, NHS England did not provide any comment on this matter.
Global travel disruptions
The IT disruption also caused significant travel disruptions. Travel operators were forced to cancel thousands of flights worldwide due to the outage. Melanie Cree and her husband Alan, from Bangor in Northern Ireland, had their flight home from Corfu Airport canceled on the day of the disruption. Delta Airlines in the US also felt the impact, canceling around 7,000 flights over five days and now faces an investigation from US authorities as well as several legal actions.
IT outage hits small businesses, disrupts online operations
The IT disruption affected small businesses as well. Dawn Watts, a UK business owner whose website offers supplies to cleaning companies and hotels, was unable to operate due to the outage. She estimates a loss of about £600 in sales. Hannah Al-Khaldi, who runs a boutique fitness studio in London, faced similar issues with her non-functional website and estimates the outage cost her £1,000.
