Austin residents react to global tech outage, CrowdStrike’s local ties

Leave it to Austin, Texas, residents to rally together by way of Reddit amid a global technology outage.

The outage occurred Friday morning, effectively grounding flights around the world and disrupting services at banks, on-air media outlets, hospitals and more. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike is believed to be behind the outage. The director of CrowdStrike Overwatch clarified on X that the outage was not necessarily due to a “whole faulty update” but rather a “faulty channel file.”

The cybersecurity company also stressed the issue behind the outage was not due to a cyberattack. Regardless of how the widespread outage came to be, Redditors are sharing information about the technology predicament on the r/Austin subreddit, including which local resources are down, who might be impacted and pointing out CrowdStrike’s local ties.

CrowdStrike is based in Austin, one of many Texas cities that were recently impacted by a Spectrum internet outage in the wake of Hurricane Beryl making landfall. While some Reddit users tossed around the idea the two outages might be related, it seems unlikely.

Some Reddit users reported that Austin 911 was down in the early hours Friday and that Baylor Scott & White Health facilities also were impacted by the outage. LoneStarLive.com reached out to Austin-Travis County EMS about whether Austin 911 call centers were affected by the outage and has yet to hear back. It appears Austin’s 311 nonemergency hotline currently is operating.

Baylor Scott & White Health provided LoneStarLive.com with the following statement when asked if their facilities were affected by the outages and if so, how it was being handled: “Our priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of those we serve and our team members. Patient care is safely continuing as we work through issues related to the technical disruption that is impacting computer systems across the globe.”

Most things appear to be up and running at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA), as Reddit user Moontowers commented they made it through security and IT systems appeared to be working around 8 a.m. ABIA did advise travelers to check their flight status with their specific airline before heading to the airport on Friday, as many flights have been delayed or canceled due to the outage. LoneStarLive.com reached out to public information officers at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport about how the facility has been impacted by the outage but has yet to hear back.

CapMetro services were briefly disrupted by the outage, but the public transportation provider shared an update on social media just before 9 a.m. that revealed “all CapMetro systems are back up and running.”