RDU, hospitals & businesses in NC feel impacts of global IT outage

Airlines across the country had to cancel more than 4,000 flights on Friday during a worldwide technology outage, and more than 33,000 flights were delayed.

The FAA said United, American, Delta and Allegiant airlines were all grounded Friday morning, and many people were stranded at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). Several flights were delayed with some delays lasting an entire day.

One stranded traveler said he would miss his kids’ performances because his flight was delayed until Saturday.

“I’m frustrated [and] a little uptight because I was supposed to get back for my kids’ performances this afternoon, so I’m not too happy about missing that,” he told WRAL News.

“We are aware of a software issue affecting some airline partners this morning,” an RDU spokesperson said. “Travelers should check directly with their airline for specific flight informations.”

United Airlines has issued a waiver to try to help people change their travel plans. The airline said it expects disruptions throughout the day.

IT experts warn of risks with worldwide tech outage

Hospitals, public safety agencies and government services also took a hit all across North Carolina. By late afternoon, most services were back up and running in our area, but IT professionals fear such outages could open the door for hackers to steal information through phishing attempts.

Robert Reynolds, chief information officer for Orange County, suggested looking for updates on the outage from reputable news sources instead of information in emails.

“The bad guys will always use events like this to try to hack a computer by sending a phishing email,” Reynolds said. “When people get an email like that, their instinct is to click on it to see what’s the latest. It’s just human behavior. Again, the best defense is just not to click on those types of emails.”

Kimberly Simon with Secure Network Administration., an IT and cybersecurity company, said her organization supports anywhere from 30 to 50 companies at a time.

Simon said the reason Friday’s outage was so massive is because CrowdStrike owns more than 17% of the market share in the industry, and the outage could have affected more than 1 in 6 businesses.

“Make sure you’re working with a diverse number of vendors so that all your eggs are not in one basket,” she explained.

NC hospitals and other business impacted

Hospitals across the state were also impacted by the global outage.

Cone Health in Greensboro was postponing non-emergency surgeries. Emergency services are still running.

UNC Health said it has received reports of scattered computer outages across its system.

“At this point, our clinical teams have been able to avoid any impact on patient care,” UNC Hospitals said.

UNC Hospitals said its IT teams are working quickly to update any affected computers and it expects to remain fully functional.

Duke Hospitals said it was also impacted by the outage.

“Duke University Health System sites were impacted by the global issue that occurred overnight affecting Microsoft Windows-based computer systems,” Duke Hospitals said. “Essential computer functions in our hospitals and clinics were affected, resulting in delays with some patient services throughout the health system.

Duke Hospitals said its clinics are open, and patients should plan to keep all scheduled appointments. In the event of any schedule changes, Duke Hospitals said affected patients will be contacted by Duke Health.

The Cape Fear Valley Medical Center-Cape Fear Valley Health (CFVH) said it has experienced a handful of outpatient cancelations.

“We have promptly implemented our established downtime procedures, which are currently in process,” CFVH said. “Our team is continuously assessing and addressing any arising issues to ensure minimal disruption to our services. At this time, inpatient and outpatient operations are continuing as scheduled.”

WakeMed said it has not been affected by the outage since it does not use CrowdStrike.

WRAL News also received reports of gas stations not being able to accept credit cards. If you need to get gas this morning, you may want to bring cash to be safe.

DMV offices across the state were impacted by the outage, but services were back online Friday afternoon.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office warns of phishing scams related to global outage

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said bad actors are taking advantage of the outage and sending phishing emails.

“People should be extra cautious about clicking on links or images within or attached to emails, especially if they did not expect the message or if they do not know the sender,” the sheriff’s office told WRAL News.

You can follow these steps to report a phishing email or text message: