CrowdStrike outage 'extremely concerning' after airports, hospitals affected: Cybersecurity expert
The Houston Airport System said both Hobby and Bush airports are fully operational after the global technology outage.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Disruptions are ongoing after Austin-based cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting Microsoft apps and services.
The widespread technology outage -- described by CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz as a "defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts" -- is impacting companies across the globe.
Airports, hospitals, 911 dispatch, and banks are among the countless businesses impacted.
READ MORE: CrowdStrike says widespread disruptions were not the result of security incident or cyberattack
At one point, American Airlines, United, and Delta were all on global groundstops. Airports nationwide are slowly coming back online.
ABC13 reporter Lileana Pearson was at Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport on Friday morning, where many flights were canceled or delayed due to the outage.
In a later update, the Houston Airport System said both Hobby and Bush airports are fully operational, with concessions, TSA, and baggage check all open.
Passengers should check with their airlines to ensure that their Friday flights are taking off as scheduled, as some individual airlines are still reporting problems.
READ MORE: Flying amid CrowdStrike outage: What to expect next and tips to navigate travel chaos
Spirit Airlines is among the airlines experiencing issues and said it's unable to rebook passengers whose travel plans have been disrupted by the outage. United Airlines said the issue affected its systems used for calculating aircraft weight, checking in customers, and phone systems in its call centers.
Over 18,000 flights around the world had been delayed Friday morning, and over 1,500 had been canceled. According to ABC News, Delta and American experienced the highest rate of cancellations and delays.
SEE ALSO: What is CrowdStrike, the company linked to the global outage?
In a statement posted on social media, Kurtz said the Crowdstrike outage wasn't a cyberattack but instead a defect with a Microsoft update.
"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. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed," Kurtz wrote. "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."
Hospitals around the world are among the countless businesses impacted.
ABC13 checked with Houston Methodist, which said it was not impacted. Texas Children's Hospital also said it was not affected.
Harris Health said its systems were disabled due to the Microsoft Windows failure. Around 6 a.m., Harris Health said dialysis services remain open at Harris Health Quentin Mease Health Center. However, all other Harris Health outpatient clinic appointments and elective hospital procedures are being canceled on Friday and will be rescheduled.
Hospital visitation and patient information were also suspended at Ben Taub and LBJ Hospitals until further notice, according to Harris Health.
In an update at 9:15 a.m., Harris Health said health centers were reopened for clinic appointments, though some services may not be available. At about 11:30 a.m., they said elective hospital procedures remain canceled for Friday, and patients affected are being notified directly and being helped with rescheduling.
Memorial Hermann said all of its hospitals are fully operational, and the outage has only caused minor interruptions to some applications in its system.
Harris County sent ABC13 the following statement on the global outage:
"Harris County Universal Services, the County's Information Technology Department, is aware of a global outage of the CrowdStrike Endpoint Detection & Response software. Though not extensive, we can confirm some Harris County department services have been impacted. We are working diligently with impacted departments to restore computer systems in accordance with the guidance and solution provided by Crowdstrike support. We continue to monitor the situation and our teams are actively engaged with the vendor, partners, and County departments to resolve this issue. We expect all services to be restored by the end of day today."
The City of Houston said it is not experiencing outages. Houston's information technology services (HITS) have been working to provide support to the airports.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office said its critical infrastructure and emergency operations, including the 911 call system, have not been impacted.
In a social media post, Port Houston said the Barbours Cut and Bayport Container Terminals were temporarily closed due to the outage.
Dr. Javita Nsoh, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Houston, called the worldwide outages "extremely concerning."
"I was very surprised," he said. "CrowdStrike is a large company."
He said one change that might come from this is that businesses rely less on the cloud moving forward.
"The cloud is great, but is it great for every use?" Nsoh asked. "I look at a hospital, which is critical infrastructure. Why should we rely on a service that's hundreds of miles away from the site?"
SEE ALSO: CrowdStrike stock price plummets amid worldwide IT outage
