Long Beach airport, port largely unaffected by global tech outage
The outage was caused by a defective software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.
A defective software update that crippled businesses around the world Friday, including banks, retail and airports in what some think could be the largest tech outage in history, largely spared Long Beach's airport and port, according to city officials.
Austin-based cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which is widely used by businesses and government agencies, pushed a Microsoft update that caused the issue, including grounding flights around the world for hours.
In a Friday morning post on X, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz stressed that the incident “was not a cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected.”
Kurtz apologized for the incident, saying the issue has been identified and a fix deployed. On the “TODAY” show Friday morning, Kurtz said some systems would be fixed automatically, while others would require manual work to repair.
On X, cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt didn’t sugar coat it: “I don’t think it’s too early to call it: this will be the largest IT outage in history.”
But while the world is reeling from the outage, major operations in Long Beach have largely been spared, according to officials.
“We’ve been relatively unaffected by the outage,” Long Beach Airport spokesperson Kate Kuykendall said, noting that only two advertising screens and one flight information screen are out.
The airport could experience some delays as the impacts ripple through the nationwide system, she added. Departure delays at other airports could cause delays in Long Beach, she said.
The FAA and Department of Transportation are continuing to monitor the situation, according to both agencies.
In a post on X Thursday night, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, fresh off a visit to the Port of Long Beach, said his department would hold airlines “to their responsibilities to meet the needs of passengers.”
At the Port of Long Beach, four terminals experienced computer issues overnight but resolved the problems with minimal disruptions, according to CEO Mario Cordero.
“Marine terminals are open and operating as this global technology outage unfolds, with cargo operations commencing normally this morning,” Cordero said in a statement.
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