UAE Govt Services, Flights Hit As Systems Crash In Global Cyber Outage

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) online services of some major UAE government services were among those hit as a cyber outage paralysed major institutions across the world on Friday. Some flights and airport operations in the country were affected, too, but the authorities' swift response cushioned the impact.

Soon after the nation's cyber authorities alerted the public to the Crowdstrike glitch, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that some of their electronic systems were down.

It urged the public“not to make any transactions” on its online portals until the issue was resolved. Authentication services were among those hit, Mofa said.

After nearly three hours, Mofa was able to restore its online services.

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The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation - which handles key documents like work permits - also reported disruptions. Those using the Mohre site were told to expect“difficulties” in accessing its services.

“Our technical team is currently working with the relevant authorities to overcome this challenge," Mohre said.

Status of flights across UAE

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) announced today that the global technical glitch affecting a number of sectors across the world has had minor impacts on the operational processes of the country's airports and airlines.

The authority explained in a statement today that there were minor delays in the registration of the arrival of a limited number of flights, noting that an alternative system was used by the airlines, which allowed the registration process to resume normally.

Sharjah International Airport has, however, said that "all flights and services are operating normally and have not been affected by the global technical glitch, with services and operations continuing to be provided without delay".

Flight operations from Dubai International Airport (DXB) have resumed swiftly, following a system outage that affected the check-in process for some airlines in Terminals 1 and 2, a DXB spokesperson confirmed to Khaleej Times.

“DXB is operating normally following a global system outage that affected the check-in process for some airlines. The affected airlines promptly switched to an alternate system, allowing normal check-in operations to resume swiftly,” the spokesperson added.

In a separate statement sent to Khaleej Times, Etihad Airways said flights“operate as normal on Friday (19 July) following the global IT issue which is impacting organisations worldwide.”

“However, there may be some limited delays to services across its network as a result of the global disruption,” the spokesperson for the Abu Dhabi-based carrier added.

Dubai's flagship carrier Emirates has so far reported no delays in flight operations but noted“there may be delays to some flight timings later today (July 19), due to knock-on effects from delayed departures from some airports around our network".

“We are aware of the global IT disruption and are monitoring the situation closely. Customers can check our website and app for the latest flight information, and are advised to update their contact details on their booking,” added the Emirates spokesperson.

Flydubai also confirmed the global network outage has not impacted their operations.“The third-party IT issue has not impacted our operations. We continue to monitor closely and we are in touch with the supplier,” flydubai spokesperson said.

An Air Arabia spokesperson confirmed there has been no impact in their operations.“We are aware of the global IT outage affecting many parts of the world. We are closely monitoring the situation. Customers can visit our website for the latest updates.”

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi advised passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.

“(We are) monitoring closely the ongoing situation with IT outages due to a third-party provider affecting the aviation sector worldwide. Our teams are working closely with the relevant stakeholders across our network to ensure a seamless travel experience for all our passengers,” the budget carrier added.

Airports in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and India are among those affected with long lines seen at check-in counters. Major US air carriers including Delta, United and American Airlines have also grounded all flight , according to US Federal Aviation Administration.

The system reportedly stemmed from a bad update pushed by US-based cybersecurity technology firm Crowdstrike that led to PCs and servers running their software to crash and unable to recover.

What is Crowdstrike

Crowdstrike is a cybersecurity company that provides cloud-based endpoint protection solutions, explained Rayad Kamal Ayub, a UAE-based tech expert.

"Crowdstrike is a global provider of security technology and services focused on identifying advanced threats and targeted attacks," said Ayub, managing director of Rayad Group.

Its flagship product, Falcon, is a cloud-based endpoint protection solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect intrusions across networks and endpoints, he added.

"Microsoft uses Crowdstrike for all their software," Ayub stressed, establishing the link between the outage and several Microsoft-run systems being down.

What caused the outage

There could be two potential reasons for this outage, Ayub said.

"The company claims that it tried to push a regular update and it was not compatible and systems got crashed. The cybersecurity experts are also not ruling out the possibility of malicious attack," he added.

Since Crowdstrike is widely used, the outage could cause major service disruptions in banks, airlines and other service providers.

"The public might face inconveniences and they should try to remain vigilant from hackers while using their systems," Ayub said.

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