Global IT outage hits Scottish airport

Edinburgh Airport has told passengers to expect longer waiting times due to a global IT outage.

The incident has hit hospitals, banks and airlines across the world.

A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said: “An IT system outage means wait times are longer than usual at the airport.

“This outage is affecting many other businesses, including airports.

“Work is ongoing to resolve this and our teams are on hand to assist where we can.”

Microsoft has said it is taking “mitigation actions” following disruptions.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has confirmed that an update of their product is responsible for the outage.  They have

"The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.

George Kurtz, chief executive of Crowdstrike, said:

"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."

"Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike customers."

Users worldwide have reported that their Windows computers suddenly showed a blue screen and were going into recovery mode.

Gatwick Airport has had to switch to manual boarding checks and Sky News is off-air.

NHS GP services in England have also reported problems with the EMIS Web, the software used to manage appointment bookings, conduct patient consultations, and update, store and share patient records.

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to hold a COBRA meeting to “address the chaos” caused by  the IT outage.

Christine Jardine, Lib Dem spokesperson for the Cabinet Office , said: “The public needs to be reassured that the disruption to their travel or their desperately needed GP appointments will be minimised.

“Getting critical infrastructure up and running again must be priority number one. The National Cyber Security Centre should also be working with small businesses and other organisations to help them deal with the outage.

“This once again lays bare the need to improve our digital infrastructure and truly modernise our economy in order to prevent the incidents from happening again.”

The Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGORR) has now been activated to assess “any potential impacts” from the outage, it has been confirmed.

SGOOR is activated to co-ordinate the work of the government and its agencies, and brief ministers during emergencies.

A government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government’s IT systems are functioning normally.

“There has minimal impact on NHS services and patients should continue to attend all appoint-ments as planned. There are no major outages reported for NHS Scotland systems.

“We are aware of impacts at Edinburgh Airport and would urge those travelling to-day to check with their operator.

“Impact is being experienced by a limited number of UK rail operators but at the moment ScotRail and the Caledonian Sleeper service is unaffected.”

American Airlines has also grounded all its flights due to IT issues.

The Paris Olympics have also been affected, a week before the games are due to start.