Web services of SGX and certain payment methods in CDG app affected amid global IT outage (update)

The Edge Singapore
3-min read

The first glitches emerged in the US, Bloomberg reported, attributing the disruption to a failure of Microsoft services.

The online services of the Singapore Exchange S68 (SGX), Singapore Airlines C6l (SIA) and Zig by ComfortDelGro C52 were hit by a global IT outage on July 19. According to media reports, similar outages affected the London Stock Exchange and United Air.

SGX
SGX

A screengrab of SGX's app.

According to the BBC, the cause of outage is unclear, but many of those affected have their systems linked to Microsoft PC systems.

The first glitches emerged in the US, Bloomberg reported, attributing the disruption to a failure of Microsoft services including Azure and 365.

The disruption, affecting Microsoft's cloud services but reportedly due to an issue with Nasdaq-listed US cybersecurity software firm Crowdstrike, has affected titles like The Straits Times and The Business Times.

CDG
CDG

A screengrab of ComfortDelGro's Zig app.

The Edge Singapore understands that DBS's PayLah! services are not affected by the outage.

Changi Airport Group revealed via X that it was also affected by the outage. At the moment, the airport is managing the check-in process for some airlines manually.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz posted on X at 5.45pm that the issue is due to a "defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts... [and] not due to a security incident or cyberattack".

His post continues: "The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website."

Shares in Crowdstrike fell as much as 14% from its last-closed price of US$343.05 in pre-market trading upon the news. Meanwhile, shares in Microsoft fell by some 2% from its last-closed price of US$440.37.

In its response to The Edge Singapore's queries, an SGX Group spokesperson clarifies that trading was not impacted. According to the bourse, the securities market closed as per normal, while derivatives markets continue to trade normally.

However, there was "some impact" to post-trade services on CDP, says SGX Group, with the majority of trades successfully settled and a "limited number" to be rolled over for settlement on Monday.

Internet-dependent services, including SGX’s price feed web service, were also momentarily affected, but the service has since been recovered successfully, says SGX Group in an update at 9.50pm.

Meanwhile, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) says major financial institutions reported "no or limited impact to customers and their key operations". "Some experienced disruptions to internal-facing systems used by staff but in all cases, critical systems were unaffected."

MAS’s systems, including MAS Electronic Payment System (MEPS+), the real time gross settlement system for Singapore dollar payments, have not been affected.

As a precautionary measure, MAS had extended the operating hours of MEPS+ by two hours to 9pm to ensure smooth settlement of Singapore dollar payments by MEPS+ participants.

Both SGX and MAS say they will continue to monitor the situation closely.

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CrowdStrike has been a top pick of The Edge Singapore's in-house analyst Thiveyen Kathirrasan since 2021. As at July 19, its stock price has risen some 277% over the past five years.

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