Major banks and airlines were among businesses hit by a fresh global online outage Thursday, with the problem traced to US-based tech provider Akamai.
An hour-long blackout hit a number of US airlines and several Australian financial firms as well as other companies dotted around the world, with angry customers unable to access websites and mobile apps.
American, Delta, United, and Southwest Airlines were among those affected, while the issue appeared to be more prolonged in Australia — where problems struck in mid-afternoon as much of the rest of the world slept.
Australia’s largest financial firm Commonwealth Bank told AFP that it and many of the country’s major lenders had been hit.
The outages, which began around 2:10 pm Sydney time (0510 GMT), also hit Australia’s postal service and Virgin Australia.
Westpac and ME Bank also reported problems with their mobile apps or online banking products, while customers for St. George and several regional banks reported they were also down.
It is the latest incident to draw attention to the stability of economically vital online platforms, and the key role that a handful of mostly unknown companies play in keeping the web running.
