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MENA Watch: Impact of Microsoft Windows system failures in region

According to Microsoft, the problem started on Thursday at 7 pm GMT and affected customers of the Azure cloud platform who were using CrowdStrike Falcon, a cybersecurity program

An antivirus software upgrade resulted in one of the largest IT failures in recent memory, which left airlines, banks, TV stations, and other companies worldwide reeling on July 19.

After the IT breakdown of the cyber security organisation, some live news channels had to go offline, apart from leaving the financial markets across the world in a state of chaos.

The American aviation authority temporarily grounded all aircraft, while airlines worldwide cancelled or postponed flights due to Microsoft Windows system failures.

According to Microsoft, the problem started on Thursday at 7 pm GMT and affected customers of the Azure cloud platform who were using CrowdStrike Falcon, a cybersecurity programme.

“We advise clients who can restore from a backup from earlier today,” the US software behemoth stated on its website in a technical update.

The vulnerability has been fixed, according to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, who described it as a “defect detected in a single content update for Windows hosts” in a statement on multiple social media channels.

Experts predicted that implementing the remedy would be difficult.

The New Arab examines how the outage has impacted several regions in the Middle East and North Africa in this article.

UAE And Saudi Arabia

Following the worldwide cyber disruption, the UAE Foreign Ministry reported that its electronic systems were operating regularly once more.

According to the ministry, regular operations for its attestation services have now resumed.

Following Friday morning’s disruption to the check-in procedure for “certain airlines in Terminals 1 and 2,” Dubai International Airport announced on X (formerly Twitter) that it was “back to working normally.”

The impact extended to several airlines operating out of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, at King Khalid International Airport.

There is now a plan in place to “employ alternate systems in partnership with the flight carriers,” the airport stated on the popular micro-blogging platform.

It recommended that travellers check the status of their flights by contacting the airlines before arriving at the airport.

Turkey

Following the worldwide IT disruption, Turkish Airlines reported on Friday that it had cancelled 84 flights.

Turkish Airlines’ Yahya Ustun posted on social media site X, “To avoid any disturbance, some flights may be cancelled and our flights will progressively return to normal as soon as possible.”

The majority of the cancelled flights on the Turkish flagship carrier were within the country and to/from Europe.

“Our goal is to lessen our operating intensity as a means of resolving the software-related issue that impacts numerous businesses worldwide,” Yahya Ustun stated.

Emirates NBD owns the Turkish private bank DenizBank, which informed X users in a statement that it was “trying to eliminate the disturbance.”

Qatar And Moroccan Airlines

The IT disruption hasn’t had an impact on Qatar Airways’ flight operations, the airline reported on X.

The national airline of Qatar warned travellers going to and from the United States and Europe to “expect some delays” and mentioned that they may check the status of their flight on its website.

Following the difficulties brought on by the IT failure, Royal Air Maroc announced that both its website and mobile app were back up.

“Everything is operational again,” the national airline of Morocco announced on X.

Lebanon And Israel

Director Fadi Hassan informed Lebanon’s official National News Agency that the IT failure affecting Microsoft systems “did not impair flight traffic” at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.

The reservation and check-in systems were momentarily impacted, but according to him, “all has returned to normal and air traffic has not been interrupted.”

According to the Israeli health ministry, more than a dozen hospitals were impacted, as stated by the Times of Israel news website.

The ministry claimed there was no effect on care and that these facilities were operating manually because their digital services were unavailable.

It advised citizens to contact the police if they are unable to get through to the medical emergency number, stating that there might be issues with calling it. Thus far, there have been no problems.

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