South African airports not affected by global tech outage

ACSA says it has not been affected by a global tech outage which has affected a number of airlines and airports around the world. Picture: David Ritchie/African News Agency/ANA

ACSA says it has not been affected by a global tech outage which has affected a number of airlines and airports around the world. Picture: David Ritchie/African News Agency/ANA

Published Jul 19, 2024

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The Airports Company of SA (Acsa) says it was business as usual amid a global Microsoft outage that impacted airports and airlines around the world.

The outage caused numerous delays around the world at airports in India, Hong Kong and the US, while it also caused some TV broadcasters such as Sky News, to go offline.

"Acsa does not use CrowdStrike services. We want to assure all stakeholders and the public that the ACSA airport network remains unaffected by this outage with operations running as normal," said Acsa spokesperson Ntokozo Mazibuko.

Mazibuko added that Acsa relies on cutting-edge, state-of-the-art cyber protection capabilities to ensure the security and continuity of operations.

"Our robust cybersecurity measures are designed to safeguard against a wide range of threats, ensuring seamless functioning of our critical infrastructure.

"We remain committed to maintaining highest standards of cybersecurity and operational excellence. Nevertheless, our airport management team continues to monitor the situation closely," she said.

Mazibuko added that in view of the widespread impact of the global outage, travellers are urged to contact their respective airlines for further flight information.

“Travellers are also encouraged to download the ACSA Mobile App and subscribe for live flight notifications,” she said.

According to reports, A major outage wrought havoc on global computer systems on Friday, grounding flights in the United States, derailing television broadcasts in the UK and impacting telecommunications in Australia.

Capitec Bank also reported technical issues.

Meanwhile, CrowdStrike CEO, George Kurtz, said teams are actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.

In a statement on X (Twitter) he said Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted.

"This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers," Kurtz said.

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