KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 — Microsoft systems worldwide have been affected by an IT services disruption, linked to cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.

A likely cause of the Microsoft outage is said to be Crowdstrike’s recent update of its Falcon sensor.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), CrowdStrike has stated that it is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon sensor.

Airports in both the US and Australia were affected, with the US Federal Aviation Administration asking Frontier Airlines, that was badly affected by the outage, to pause its departures.

The ground stop has been lifted as of press time.

Users also flooded the website Downdetector.com, that tracks service outages, to report issues across various Microsoft 365 apps and services.

The outage has also affected telecommunications, banks and supermarkets and even bringing down police systems in New South Wales.

Australia’s national cyber security coordinator Michelle McGuinness has said that current information shows the outage is due to a "technical issue” and there is no reason to think it is a cyber security incident.

On X (formerly Twitter), Microsoft stated earlier today: "We’re investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”