Without backup plans, global IT outages will happen again

A passenger reads a message after he tried to use a self-check-in kiosk at a departure area at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport following a global IT outage, in Ahmedabad, India, July 19, 2024. REUTERS/Amit Dave

LONDON (Reuters) - Elements of Friday’s global IT outage, which grounded planes and hit services from banking to healthcare, have occurred before and until more contingencies are built into networks, and organisations put better back-up plans in place, it will happen again.

Friday’s outage was caused by an update that U.S. cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike pushed to its clients early on Friday morning which conflicted with Microsoft’s Windows operating system, rendering devices around the world inoperable.