The global tech outage hit Milwaukee's airport, banks and health care systems on Friday

Alex Groth and Sarah Volpenhein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·4 min read

A global technology outage is grounding flights and disrupting communication in area hospitals and banks on Friday morning after a faulty system update.

Here's which Milwaukee area organizations are impacted by the outage.

What caused the global outage?

The cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike blamed a faulty system update for the disruptions.

CrowdStrike said one of its recent content updates had a defect that impacted Microsoft's Windows Operating System and added the incident was "not a security incident or cyberattack."

The company's CEO, George Kurtz, apologized for the disruptions in a post on X, noting the issue has been identified and isolated and a fix has been deployed. CrowdStrike is "working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on."

Meanwhile, Microsoft said "the underlying cause has been fixed" and impacted Microsoft 365 apps and services have been recovered, though the company continues to monitor the issue.

What can Microsoft customers do to fix the problem on their own computer?

Microsoft 365 Status posted on X that customers can restore their Windows 365 Cloud PC to a known good state prior to the release of the update as documented here.

What is CrowdStrike?

CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity software company created in 2012. According to its website, CrowdStrike has a "cloud-native platform that protects and enables the people, processes and technologies that drive modern enterprise."

CrowdStrike posted a statement on X responding to customers affected by the outage:

"Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected. We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption. We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on."

"As noted earlier, the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed," the statement said.

What flights are delayed and cancelled at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport?

Most airlines have restored their systems or put alternative procedures in place as of 9:30 a.m. after the global communication outage, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport confirmed on Friday morning.

Travelers should still be prepared for lingering delays and cancelations. Several U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, issued ground stops for all their flights on Friday due to communication problems, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, USA Today reported.

You can search for the status of your flight on Mitchell International Airport's website here. For more detailed information about your flight, you can also visit your airline's website or call its customer service line.

Froedtert Health reports disruptions, other Milwaukee area hospitals monitoring outages

A Froedtert Health spokesperson confirmed the outages have impacted some systems.

"Our teams are following standard procedures to work around the disruptions and continue to care for patients, as we continue to bring our systems back online," said spokesperson Stephanie Burton.

Burton said that impacted patients would be notified if their appointments were impacted by the disruptions. Burton added the issue did not appear to be related to any cybersecurity incident.

Burton did not immediately respond to a follow-up email asking for specifics on how the disruptions are impacting hospitals and clinics, or which systems were impacted.

In a statement, Aurora Health Care did not give specifics on how its hospitals and clinics in Milwaukee and the area have been affected.

"Like many other organizations, we are closely monitoring the global CrowdStrike outage and are working diligently to minimize disruption to our patients," the statement said.

Ascension Wisconsin did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking information on any impacts to operations and patient care.

Users across multiple banks report tech outages on DownDetector

DowntownDetector.com reports service outage information and is showing several bank with outages across the country.

  • Bank of America

  • Chase Bank

  • U.S. Bank

  • Wells Fargo

Bank Five Nine, with locations across southeastern Wisconsin, also said users are having issues with mobile banking and ATM deposits at Bank Five Nine, according to a spokesperson for Bank Five Nine.

Milwaukee County Transit System reports no disruptions during outage

Milwaukee County Transit System reported that Friday's service was not affected by the outages.

"Buses went out across Milwaukee County without any issues," said spokesperson Anna Schryver.

RELATED: Flights canceled, delayed at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on one of its busiest travel days of the year

USA Today and USA Today-Network-Florida contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Microsoft, CrowdStrike tech outage hits Milwaukee airport, hospitals