Worldwide outage: Massive disruption at Microsoft affects companies and authorities
Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online outage continues, affecting sensitive government areas
Quick Look
- A massive global Microsoft outage disrupted businesses and government agencies on Thursday and Friday.
- Microsoft 365 and Exchange Online are affected.
- In Australia, the secret service and federal police reported failures, and the US House of Representatives reported restrictions.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Microsoft services such as Outlook and Teams were disrupted worldwide on Thursday and Friday. The problem was still being resolved after about ten hours. Microsoft was looking for alternative ways to increase server capacity. Functions of Microsoft 365, which are based on the cloud-based email platform Exchange Online, were particularly affected. At its peak, more than 130,000 outages were reported on Downdetector in the US before problems spread to the Asia-Pacific region on Friday.
The widespread disruption to Microsoft services continues. The effects extend widely throughout the economy, and sensitive areas of government are also affected. In Australia, for example, the secret service and federal police report failures.
A massive global outage of Microsoft services such as Outlook and Teams disrupted the operations of businesses and government agencies around the globe on Thursday and Friday. The problem was still being resolved after about ten hours. Microsoft said efforts to restore services are not progressing as expected.
The company is looking for alternative ways to increase server capacity. Functions of Microsoft 365, which are based on the cloud-based email platform Exchange Online, are particularly affected. The website Downdetector reported more than 130,000 outages in the US at its peak before problems spread to the Asia-Pacific region on Friday.
Sensitive government areas are also affected by the disruption. In Australia, the secret service and the federal police reported failures. The Canberra government activated an agreement with Microsoft to ensure priority system restoration. Australian Home Affairs and Cybersecurity Minister Tony Burke said Microsoft was not expecting a cyberattack. Rather, it is apparently a faulty update, similar to the global IT breakdown caused by the security company CrowdStrike in 2024. The US House of Representatives also reported restrictions for its users.
The effects also spread widely throughout the economy. Artificial intelligence (AI) developers OpenAI and Anthropic investigated issues with interfaces to Microsoft services not working as expected. The US electric truck manufacturer Workhorse Group postponed the presentation of its quarterly figures due to IT problems. Microsoft previously stated that a number of servers were unexpectedly unavailable. However, this is not due to a sudden increase in data traffic. Just last month, a failure of the Azure cloud platform caused problems worldwide.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Microsoft will restore the affected server capacities in the coming hours.
Likely · Within hours
There will be no confirmation of a cyber attack.
Likely · Within days
Open Questions
- When will all Microsoft services be fully restored?
- Which exact update caused the problem?
- How long will it take to fully resolve the issues?
