Banking systems take a hit, payment failures continue due to global Windows outage

Global Windows outage: Microsoft Windows users from around the world are facing a "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD) error, leading the systems to abrupt shutdowns or restarts. Various industries including stock markets, aviation, media outlets and banking are facing massive disruption due to the mass outage.

Social media users globally have reported long queues at Australian stores such as Woolworths due to payment system failures, as well as difficulties accessing financial institutions like the National Australia Bank. Other users in Australia have reported being locked out of their workstations, with banking apps and supermarket systems also taking the hit.

Banks from around the world rely on Windows for daily operations, making an outage detrimental to transaction processing, customer service, and internal communications. Additionally, Windows powers numerous ATMs and point-of-sale terminals; and the outage is rendering these inoperative, preventing cash withdrawals and payments.

The outage also heightens data and security risks, potentially compromising sensitive financial information. Due to the interconnectedness of the global banking system, disruptions in one region can delay international transactions, affecting global trade and finance. 

Microsoft’s response to outage

Informing the users about the reason for the outage, a Microsoft representative suggested in the helpline forum that the users should not try to fix the problem until the next Windows update is released.

Team Microsoft 365 service update posted on X.com stating, "We're investigating an issue impacting users' ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services". The tech mammoth has reported to fix majority of services were recovered in the early hours of the report.

The Microsoft engineers had identified the issue as a content deployment problem and had reverted the changes, the company informed.