MICROSOFT'S MACRO VIRUS

Tech outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets; world has no 'Plan B' for when chips are down

A global technology outage grounded flights, knocked banks and hospital systems offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers.

Cyber security firm CrowdStrike said that the issue behind the outage was not a security incident or cyber attack -- and that a fix was on the way. The company said the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows.

But hours after the problem was first detected, the disarray continued -- and escalated.

Long lines formed at airports in the US, Europe and Asia as airlines lost access to check-in and booking services at a time when many travellers are heading on summer vacations. News outlets in Australia -- where telecommunications were severely affected -- were pushed off air for hours.

Hospitals and doctor's offices had problems with their appointment systems, while banks in South Africa and New Zealand reported outages in their payment system or websites and apps.

At Hong Kong's airport, Yvonne Lee, 24, said she found her flight to Phuket in Thailand was postponed to Saturday only when she arrived at the airport. Her already short five day trip would now have to be further shortened, she said.