Widespread Microsoft Outage Roils Businesses, Governments and More

A massive Microsoft Outlook outage has turned into a full-blown global cloud crisis, cutting people off from their email through the web or apps since early Thursday afternoon, according to The Verge and TechCrunch. DW.com reported that Microsoft has ruled out 'malicious activity' as the cause for the global outage. The Verge reported that Microsoft 365 is starting to recover as the outage enters a second day, with Microsoft reporting that recovery efforts are going well.

The widespread technical failure severely impacted public services and institutions internationally. According to CNA, the incident disrupted Singapore government systems and banks as services slowly recovered. Meanwhile, BBC reported that hospitals, general practitioners, and police forces were hit by the Microsoft outage. BBC also noted specific impacts in Yorkshire, where the technical disruption hit local councils and police.

As the disruption continued into a second day, users remained unable to access emails via web or mobile applications. DW.com reported on the ongoing situation as Microsoft investigated the root of the widespread service interruption. The Verge noted that Microsoft 365 issues began cutting people off from their email since early Thursday afternoon.