Valley airports, Phoenix Police Department among those impacted by global computer outage

PHOENIX — Sky Harbor International Airport and Phoenix Police Department are among many institutions around the globe experiencing issues early Friday due to a massive internet outage, however, services are starting to resume as normal.

Sky Harbor posted a message about the issues on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday morning:

The airport reported more than 50 delayed or canceled flights Friday morning, though it's not known how many are due to the outage or other reasons.

FlightAware reported thousands of flight delays and cancelations across the country.

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Sky Harbor said, "we recommend checking with the airlines for the specific reason for the delays/cancellations. Some departing flights are impacted due to this global technology issue. Passengers may experience longer lines as airlines work to check-in passengers. We continue to encourage travelers to check their flight status with their airline before coming to the airport."

Around 11:45 a.m., the airport said operations were back to normal.

ABC15 talked to numerous travelers who said they had been waiting at the airport for hours overnight and into Friday morning, including one man who said he was at risk of missing an out-of-town graduation ceremony.

However, Sky Harbor wasn't the only Valley airport feeling the impacts. According to Mesa Gateway Airport's website, all flights in and out of the airport through 11 a.m. were canceled.

OTHER IMPACTS

The massive IT outage causing disruptions across the world is also impacting banks and other major institutions.

Numerous police departments across the U.S. reported that the outage affected their 911 service. Many police departments were encouraging the public to contact them via non-emergency lines until the outage was resolved.

Phoenix Police Department told ABC15 around 6 a.m., "Systems have been restored to the police department's 911 call center after a widespread outage that began late last night. For those who called for non-emergency police assistance during the outage, we ask the community's patience as we work through those calls."

Arizona Department of Public Safety officials told ABC15 earlier in the morning, "...we are still in the middle of working through it and identifying impact."

Phoenix Fire Department said its "computerized 911 dispatch center" was impacted and they had to resort to manual alternatives, but technology professionals quickly restored their system.

Valleywise Health said some of its IT systems were impacted and some "patient charting" had to be done on paper, but systems are coming back up. Valleywise Emergency Departments and Level I Trauma Center remain open and scheduled surgeries were not impacted.

Banner Health reportedly told its employees in an internal message that “most Ambulatory services (Urgent Care, Imaging, and others)” would be closing Friday to prioritize acute care facilities. Some surgery services were also reportedly being delayed.

Banner Health released an official statement about the situation, saying: "Banner Health has been impacted by a global system IT outage. Our hospitals are open for in-patient care and medical emergencies. Most all other Banner locations are currently closed on Friday, July 19. For current updates, please visit bannerhealth.com."

Dignity Health told ABC15 that some of its facilities were impacted but their hospitals remain open for patients.

Gas stations, retailers, and shipping companies have also been impacted, so people may experience issues at other businesses during their daily errands and purchases.

SYSTEMS COMING BACK ONLINE

Microsoft 365 has said that services were starting to return to normal with businesses slowly getting back to normal operations Friday.

"The underlying cause has been fixed, however, residual impact is continuing to affect some Microsoft 365 apps and services," the company said.

ABC15 talked with Ken Colburn, the owner of Data Doctors, who gave more insight into the outage and what's happening to some computers and programs worldwide:

"The problem has been identified by Crowdstrike, but the fix requires a somewhat tech-savvy person to gain physical access to impacted computers," Colburn said. "Windows computers running Crowdstrike's Falcon product are the ones impacted and if the computer is using Microsoft's encryption (Bitlocker), the key will be necessary for the fix."

Consumers may be asking, "what does this outage mean for me and my personal data?" The good news is, the CEO of Crowdstrike says this incident was 'not a security incident nor a cyberattack'. Most people's personal computers will not be impacted because the software at the center of the outage is mostly used by businesses.

While there have been no known data breaches as a result of the outage so far, consumers can still take action to protect themselves in the future.

-Increase your password protection. Change your passwords often, never reuse passwords, and add two-factor authentication when possible.

-Monitor your credit. You can receive a free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus.

-Consider a credit freeze. Freezing your credit can add a layer of security so no one can open an account, loan, or line of credit without your knowledge.

-Never open a link from an unknown source. Refrain from downloading attachments as well, unless you are expecting them to be sent from a business or person.

-Pay using secured methods. Be wary of peer-to-peer payments that may not offer consumer protections as opposed to other payment options.

Hear more from Colburn in the video player below:

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