On the early morning of Friday, July 19th, a global network signal disruption occurred due to a software update on Microsoft Windows systems by the US cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. Computer screens turned blue worldwide, causing significant disruptions in operations for global airports, banks, and other industries.
This incident prompted a press conference in New York City on Friday morning, where the mayor and the city’s technology department briefed the public on the impact of the event. It was determined that aside from surveillance cameras in prisons and computers in courthouses being non-functional, the effects on New York City were minimal due to preparedness and drills conducted for network disruptions.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz posted on the X platform, attributing the service disruption to a flaw discovered in a single content update on the Microsoft Windows operating system.
Mayor Adams confirmed that this was a “software update” “inadvertently” causing a “paralysis” rather than a “cyberattack”. He emphasized the importance of preparedness to swiftly react to similar large-scale information disruptions or cyberattacks.
Key city services such as the 911 emergency system, fire department, and 311 hotline were reported to be operating normally. While traffic lights were damaged but functional, Staten Island’s cruise terminal was unaffected. The city’s water supply was also unaffected, although the prison’s cameras and arrest processing software were impacted, along with most computers in Manhattan criminal court.
Chief Technology Officer of New York City, Matt Frazier, reported that after issues arose with the city’s computer systems at midnight, he immediately contacted Microsoft and CrowdStrike, leading to the identification and resolution of the problem between midnight and 1:30 am through a patch provided by the parties involved.
Frazier mentioned that the current recovery process is quite manual, requiring physical contact with most machines, with a team working in real-time across the city to expedite the restoration. Most critical services and those related to public safety continued without interruption.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber stated that the New York subway system initiated emergency protocols in the early hours, ensuring no impact on city subways and buses. Only countdown clocks informing train arrivals were affected, but as Lieber mentioned, “New Yorkers know commuter trains will arrive on time”.
“All impacts faced by customers have been assessed and mitigated, with all our systems operational,” Lieber added, emphasizing that while air travel systems may be in disarray, New York City’s public transportation systems were running at full capacity.
CEO and President of the New York City public hospital system, Mitchell Katz, reported that all public hospitals in the city were operating normally. Katz stressed the need for hospitals to plan and practice for scenarios where computers fail, as they handle matters of life and death, requiring decisions on treatment even without computers.
Governor Hochul described the situation as “unprecedented”, assuring New Yorkers that the state would offer “greater flexibility” to address issues such as missing deadlines at the Department of Motor Vehicles for residents affected by the disruption.