Staff Report

WARSAW — Several local and state organizations have been affected by a global IT glitch.

The outage was first reported just before 2 a.m. ET Friday, July 19. At that time, the Kosciusko County 911 Facebook page posted about phone systems being unavailable and asked anyone needing to contact 911 to send a text. Dispatchers said the 911 center resumed normal operations around 11 a.m.

The outage was caused by a single bug in a software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which provides antivirus software for Microsoft users. 

Bowen Health Clinics have also reported intermittent issues related to the outage.

“Access to our patient electronic records and other crucial systems, including our phones and computers, were affected,” said Bowen Center in a press release. “As a result, all medical appointments were canceled for the day, as providers were unable to access patient information. Therapy appointment schedules and our community-based services were unaffected.”

“As of 2 p.m. July 19, some access has been restored, but we are not fully operational,” continued the release. “We are fortunate to have outstanding IT professionals who have been working diligently to return us to full capacity, a dedicated staff who are able to adapt to changes in order to ensure our patients’ needs are met, and, of course, our patients who have been understanding and kind during this inconvenience. We will continue to update the situation via our website and social media.”

The Indianapolis International Airport stated via social media that the outage resulted in some airlines having a ground stop. Representatives said airline delays will likely be intermittent throughout July 19.

Due to the outage, the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles posted on social media about being unable to process transactions. As of 2 p.m. July 19, BMV reported myBMV is back online and encourages customers to complete transactions through this medium whenever possible.

“Many of our BMV Connect kiosks are back online, but some are still down,” read the BMV’s post. “Our branches are still working to restore their systems.”