IT outage 'significant' cost to Australian economy

It was a result of major cyber security firm CrowdStrike deploying a software update with a defect, not a malicious cyber attack.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said on Saturday the outage was likely the largest in history but the focus was now on making sure all businesses were back up and running.

The National Coordination Mechanism met again this morning to discuss the Crowdstrike issue. I joined the meeting and thank all participants for their engagement on this issue. — Clare O'Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) https://t.co/qGCAgeSr84July 20, 2024

"This has been a very serious incident for the Australian economy," she said following a National Co-ordination Mechanism meeting with CrowdStrike representatives.

With most companies operational, despite small teething issues such as delays at airports and some supermarket check-outs being closed, a new concern has emerged.

Ms O'Neil warned scammers were taking advantage of the outage to target Australians and businesses with phishing emails, texts and calls.

Some emails pretending to be Microsoft or CrowdStrike are being sent asking Australians to send bank or personal details to access a software reboot.

The country's cyber spy organisation, the Australian Signals Directorate, has also warned people to beware of cyber hackers releasing malicious websites and code purporting to help fix the outage.

Ms O'Neil urged Australians to stay vigilant of suspicious activity and to report it to ScamWatch.

"Don't give any personal information and certainly don't put in any bank details or money," she said.

Travellers were still being affected on Saturday as airlines rescheduled cancelled flights. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Businesses are still cleaning up the mess created by the outage, particularly Jetstar after thousands of people were left stranded by 150 flight cancellations.

Melbourne travellers suffered the brunt of delays on Saturday at Terminal 4 - where Jetstar arrives and departs - with the airport confirming that baggage issues were slowing down check-in processes.

Jetstar confirmed that while its IT systems had returned to normal, "there are some continued impacts which may affect some flights".

Other terminals and airports around the nation were operating normally with slight congestion.

Flights were still being delayed on Saturday after Friday's cancellations. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

Supermarkets were back online on Saturday after some shoppers were forced to abandon trolleys full of goods during the outage.

Woolworths and Coles both said all stores were open and operational on Saturday but warned some check-outs were still unavailable.

The majority of Dan Murphy's and BWS stores have opened as usual on Saturday but some have altered opening hours. 

Online and delivery services are still impacted with orders made on Friday likely to take some time to be completed, a spokesperson said.

Ms O'Neil asked Australians to be patient as services come back to normal.

"Don't take this out on the staff at your supermarkets if you have to wait a little bit longer, it is absolutely not their fault," she said.

The IT outage prompted federal politician Bob Katter to demand cash remains in circulation amid the "danger" of relying on digital technology.

"This a wake-up call that the risk associated with a cashless society is too high for us to pay," Mr Katter said.

A significant concern raised by the outage was the vulnerability of global IT systems.

Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre CEO Rachael Falk told ABC Breakfast it should be a wake-up call for businesses and governments because the impacts would have been catastrophic if it had been a cyber attack.

The financial costs are expected to be tallied by economists over coming days as they estimate the money lost to businesses.

Ms O'Neil said there will be significant questions about how CrowdStrike handled the outage and the cost to the country and consumers.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is on leave but will be briefed regularly on the outage.