Outlook and Microsoft down, what we know and what are the consequences
Services down in 74 countries, excluding the hacker hypothesis. The problem began on November 12 and continued until the next morning.
Quick Look
- A major blackout has hit Microsoft services, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, affecting 74 countries and millions of users since November 12.
- The hypothesis of a hacker attack by the company has been ruled out.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The blackout affected the Microsoft 365 suite, including Outlook, Teams and Copilot, starting November 12.
Introduction
Services down, 74 countries affected by heavy disruptions, official exclusion of the hacker hypothesis. The blackout that hit Microsoft, affecting Outlook, Teams and Copilot, began in the late Italian afternoon of November 12, at 6.30 pm. And although it seemed substantially resolved after an hour, it actually continued until this morning, despite the company making it known that it has obtained positive results from the restoration work and promising to restore a stable situation as soon as possible in all the affected areas.
The problem affects many people and companies around the world. According to official Microsoft data, there are as many as 430 million users who use the Microsoft 365 suite (which incorporates the various Microsoft applications) and more than 90% of the companies in the Fortune 500 list (the top 500 companies in the United States by turnover classified by Fortune magazine) use Copilot as an assistant based on artificial intelligence. The failure, in addition to affecting Outlook, Teams and Copilot, also had knock-on effects on other service providers and other big tech companies that use the Microsoft infrastructure.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Restoration of stability in all affected areas
Very likely · Within days
Open Questions
- What was the exact technical cause of the failure?
- How many companies have suffered economic losses?
