Major IT outage strikes companies across country

Aaron Bunch | July 19, 2024

A massive IT outage has hit major institutions across the nation, and globally, affecting banks, media outlets, airports and government services.

Reports were emerging that the outage was not malicious, however, there was no information as to how long it could last with businesses forced to close their doors while they waited.

A spokesperson from the federal government said they were working closely with the National Cyber Security Coordinator on the “unfolding outage” which started about 3.30pm.

“This outage relates to a technical issue with a third-party software platform employed by affected companies,” they said.

“As the Cyber Security Coordinator has said, there is no information to suggest this is a cyber security incident and they are continuing to engage across key stakeholders.”

The spokesperson said the National Emergency Mechanism group would soon meet and be co-chaired by the National Emergency Management Agency.

Crowd-sourced website Downdetector has listed Telstra, Microsoft, Google, NBN, Foxtel, National Australia Bank, ABC, ANZ, and Bendigo Bank as suffering outages.

However, the global software glitch is understood to also behind the issue that is causing problems for Qantas, Virgin Australia police and the federal and NSW governments.

The flight screens at Sydney Airport and other airports across the country have gone blank with passengers being warned of delays.

A Virgin Australia spokesperson said the company was aware of a “large-scale IT outage impacting multiple airlines and other businesses which is having an impact on our operations.”

“We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible,” they said.

Reports were emerging of the outage spreading globally with companies around the world reporting issues with their services.

In Australia, many media organisations are being affected by the outage.

“The ABC is experiencing a major network outage, along with several other media outlets,” it said in a news story on its website.

Nine said dozens of editors and reporters’ laptops crashed shortly before 4pm.

In Melbourne, Nine News was forced to improvise the start of its 4pm bulletin amid problems with their prepared news packages.

Sky News had similar problems with its services reduced at one stage because of the outage.

Even footy fans were being hit with AFL club Essendon warning fans to bring physical tickets so they could get into Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

The Australian National Relay Service confirmed it was working to restore services.

It said it was able to make emergency triple-zero calls.

“We understand the global Microsoft outage, which is affecting many government and business services, is the cause of the National Relay Service outage,” a spokesman said.

The NSW government said a Microsoft outage was affecting a range of services.

“Departments are activating business continuity plans to ensure ongoing service,” a spokesman said.

The NSW Police systems have also gone down.

A NSW Police spokesperson urged the public to only contact triple-zero in an emergency.

Victoria Police said some internal application systems had been affected by the national outage but it was not impacting its ability to dispatch or respond to incidents.

Microsoft reported problems with its services, saying some users may be unable to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services

“We’re investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services”, the tweet posted on the social media platform X said on Friday.

Qantas, Coles, Woolworths, CBA, ANZ, Westpac and NAB have been contacted for comment.