As Friday arvos go, last week’s turned into a bit of a shitshow.
As Aussie tradies were getting ready to knock off after another gruelling week on the tools, they — along with the rest of the planet, were smashed with the aftereffects of what has become the largest IT outage in world history.
A failed software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike singlehandedly triggered a domino effect of system problems that crashed more than 8.5 million computers, grounded flights, shut down broadcasters, and left people without access to communication tools and banking services.
Many within the Australian construction space subsequently saw their weekend plans demolished before their eyes, as firms instantly lost access to computer systems, payments were blocked, and some FIFO workers could not get home.
All just two hours before it was time to head down the pub – talk about bad timing.
The bungled IT update brought construction businesses to a standstill on Friday.
Queensland-based Caretech Plumbing and Gas was one of hundreds of Aussie construction firms affected, telling Build-it they were unable to access certain Microsoft 365 programs or make and receive payments for the rest of the evening.
“We were waiting on invoices to be paid, had payments to make, as well as needed to purchase stock online, none of which would go through,” office manager Annette Baker said.
“All in all, it probably took about three hours before we realised it wasn’t just us or the individual websites we were using, and it meant we’ve had to spend the weekend catching up and preparing for Monday if this continues.”
While many tech systems are now back online, the fix comes too little too late for those tradies who were unable to get home Friday evening after airports around the country were brought into chaos.
North Queensland FIFO Worker Ben Pidding, who works at the Rio Tinto Weipa Bauxite mine, told Build-it that a grounded Jetstar flight via Brisbane Airport left him stranded overnight.
“We arrived in Brisbane for our connection, and then all the departure boards were knocked out, and no one had any idea what was going on,” he said.
“We ended up waiting around for a few hours and then had to grab a hotel until Sunday. It’s the last thing you want when you’re looking forward to two weeks off.”
“In terms of the mine site itself, everything was working fine, and nothing went down.”
A Jetstar spokesperson confirmed the outage, stating that Friday flights in Australia and New Zealand were cancelled until 2 a.m. on Saturday, impacting thousands of customers who were due to fly out for the weekend.
“The IT outage is impacting multiple Jetstar systems, including the system we use to contact customers, and we sincerely apologise for the frustration this is causing,” the spokesperson said Friday afternoon.
But it wasn’t just FIFO tradies that were impacted, with one Tweed Heads-based carpenter who wished to remain anonymous telling Build-it the tech troubles had completely “ballsed up” his Friday arvo ritual with the boys.
“We all head down the local after work, sink a few frothies and have a crack on the pokies,” he said.
“But this shit completely f*cked that for us this week, firstly Friday’s job was meant to be a cashie, but his internet banking was playing up, and he couldn’t do the transfer needed to withdraw…”
“Then, when we finally got down the pub, all the (pokie) machines were down!”
While the outage wreaked havoc on weekend plans around the country, more disruption is expected this week. Experts warn that it could take days for all systems to be up and running again.
Areas that could continue to effect tradies include access to computer systems, digital programs as well as banking and payment software.
Transport issues seem to be fully resolved with most airports able to move over to back up IT systems over the weekend, meaning FIFO flights should go ahead as scheduled.
The government held a crisis meeting on Friday, which included the National Emergency Management Agency as well as executives from Telstra, Optus, other communications companies, the big supermarkets, airlines including Qantas and Virgin, energy and water utilities, as well as state and territory governments.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said they would continue to work to resolve any ongoing issues.
“Governments are closely engaged at all levels, focused on bringing together the affected parties and ensuring government entities institute the fix as quickly as possible. Further updates will be issued as required.”
