Microsoft outage forces businesses to fall back on faxes and phones

A worldwide Microsoft outage disrupted Outlook, Teams, and Copilot for millions of users on Friday, forcing businesses to rely on faxes, phones, and Bluetooth to maintain operations. Microsoft attributed the issue to server problems and stated it was unaware of any malicious activity. The prolonged disruption affected major institutions, including banks, trading firms, and shipping companies, slowing administrative and trading work in some regions. Euronext advised listed companies to use phone calls, while Aviva used Bluetooth to transfer recordings and Maersk asked customers to call for urgent matters. In Taipei, one financial firm confirmed trades by fax instead of email. Analysts said the incident highlights the risks of relying on a few technology providers, urging firms to invest in contingency plans and test backups. Microsoft reported signs of stabilisation after implementing fixes, though the outage follows recent attacks on industrial systems, underscoring how single points of failure can disrupt daily business.