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Global tech outage delays flights at Des Moines airport

CrowdStrike cybersecurity update affects banks, media, Windows computers

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Flights by several airlines were canceled or delayed Friday morning at the Des Moines International Airport, as carriers responded to a global technology outage that also reportedly affected operations for banks, media companies and emergency services.

A single update from cybersecurity-software company CrowdStrike, a major provider of malware and virus protection to a large array of companies, caused outages for millions of users of Microsoft Windows devices worldwide, according to the Wall Street Journal. Major airlines including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines halted departures overnight, the Journal reported.

In Des Moines, three Allegiant Air flights were canceled as most of the carrier’s systems were affected by the outage, airport Communications, Marketing and Air Service Development Manager Sarah Hoodjer told the Business Record.

She said American, Delta and United systems appeared to be back online this morning and the airlines were playing catchup with delayed flights. According to KCCI, most flights out of Des Moines were delayed until at least 6:45 a.m. KCCI also reported the some Des Moines metro area hospital systems were also reporting issues with MercyOne telling the news outlet that  access issues to some application systems.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a news release that some state government systems and employee devices were affected by the global outage. According to the release, state officials identified the CrowdStrike error around 12:30 a.m. and a temporary fix was put in place at 1:04 a.m.

The Iowa Department of Transportation was working Friday to restore services to drivers’ licence and ID issuance, vehicle registration and titling, oversize and overweight vehicle permitting and international fuel tax and registration that were affected by the outage, the agency said in a news release.

According to the Journal, CrowdStrike Chief Executive George Kurtz said in a post on the social media platform X that the issue had been identified and a fix had been deployed, adding that “this is not a security incident or cyberattack.”

More about the global tech outage:

Live update: Global Microsoft outage hits airlines, banks and businesses – CNN
What caused such a widespread tech meltdown?-New York Times
What is CrowdStrike, the company linked to the global outage? – CNN

World slowly recovers from mass IT outage – Bloomberg