Microsoft Apologizes for Global Outage Impacting Australia and Beyond

A widespread technical issue disrupted Microsoft services worldwide, affecting businesses, government departments, hospitals, schools, and legal systems. The outage lasted for about 18 hours before services began to be gradually restored. Experts warned that the incident could cost the Australian economy billions of dollars and potentially force small businesses to close. The event has also prompted calls from industry groups for a government review into critical infrastructure reliance on foreign technology.