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Businesses and essential services around the world scrambled to find the route cause of a major IT outage causing havoc around the world.

The cause of the widespread outage was widely unknown, as airlines, banks, health organisations and media broadcasters around the world scrambled to take action. It was reported that Windows workstations are the cause, with services taken offline as a result of the so-called ‘blue screen of death’ appearing on Windows PCs. 

Microsoft took action to mitigate the problem, according to the BBC. The problem was not treated as a cyberattack, but rather what cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has referred to as a "defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts"

Issues were reported in multiple countries, including India, the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Japan, among others.

Largest IT outage in history

Those that can access digital services have been quick to comment on the enormity of the outage. Australian computer expert Troy Hunt, who created the HaveIBeenPwned website, posted on X: “I don’t think it’s too early to call it: this will be the largest IT outage in history.