Crowdstrike Microsoft outage: Houston airport travelers among millions impacted by global technology outage

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Disruptions are ongoing hours 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.

IAH said things were slowly getting back on track, and travelers are able to check in for their flights and go through security.

Passengers should check with their airlines and airports to ensure that their Friday flights are taking off as scheduled.

At last check, over 18,000 flights around the world had been delayed, and over 1,500 had been canceled.

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, who said it was not impacted.

Harris Health said its systems were disabled due to the Microsoft Windows failure. Dialysis services remain open at Harris Health Quentin Mease Health Center, though all other Harris Health outpatient clinic appointments and elective hospital procedures are being canceled on Friday and will be rescheduled.