The outage was caused by a fault in the “Falcon sensor” used by US-based cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike. The sensor is installed on many business computers to gather security data. The fault had a major impact on Microsoft systems worldwide.

“CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon sensor,” the company said in a statement.

“CrowdStrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows hosts related to the Falcon sensor,” the company said in a statement on its website.

The company said symptoms included a blue screen error. “Our engineering teams are actively working to resolve this issue,” the company said.

Transport impacted

In NSW, trains were cancelled on the Hunter Line between Newcastle and Dungog for safety reasons.

“Passengers are advised to delay their trips and make alternative travel arrangements,” a NSW transport spokesperson said. “There are no impacts to other modes of public transport and no impacts to the wider Sydney Trains network.”

In Victoria, payment services failed on trams in Melbourne.

Services affected worldwide

Payment systems were impacted globally with customers unable to use Apple Pay to pay for goods and services.

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Customers at Coles and Woolworths reported not being able to tap their cards at payment terminals.

ANZ’s internet banking also reported an “industry-wide issue” affecting the processing of some payments, but traditional transfers via BSB and bank account numbers are not impacted.

The Commonwealth Bank said its PayID services were unavailable.

Australia’s largest telecommunications provider, Telstra, said some of its systems had been impacted by the outage.

“The issue is causing some holdups for some of our customers, and we thank them for their patience,” Telstra said. “There is no impact to our fixed or mobile network which continue to operate.”

No evidence to suggest a hack

National Cyber Security Coordinator Michelle McGuinness said there was no evidence to suggest the mass outage was a hack or cybersecurity incident.

“I am aware of a large-scale technical outage affecting a number of companies and services across Australia this afternoon,” McGuinness said in a statement on X.

“There is no information to suggest it is a cybersecurity incident. We continue to engage across key stakeholders.”

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Richard Buckland, a professor in cybercrime at the School of Computer Science and Engineering UNSW said the crash was a worst-case scenario.

“This is more serious than a cyberattack, really, because it shows our systems aren’t even proofed against randomness,” he told the ABC.

Airports impacted by incident

The outage has caused the grounding and cancellation of flights across the United States, and at Sydney Airport, customers have been told they can’t check in their bags.

Delays swept across Sydney’s domestic and international terminals, hitting check-ins during the peak Friday travel rush.