Global tech outage impacts CNMI

The recent worldwide tech outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike’s Falcon system update has impacted the CNMI in more ways than one as it has affected flights, hotels, and possibly even utility payments.

Over the weekend, the world experienced a global technology outage when CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that provides software to scores of companies worldwide, deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows, according to the Associated Press.

Unfortunately, the CNMI was not spared as the Commonwealth Ports Authority, Customs and Border Protection, airlines such as Jeju Air and United Airlines, local hotels, and even the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. were directly impacted by the outage.

In a quick phone interview with CPA executive director Leo Tudela, he shared that following the tech outage last Friday, flights to Saipan were delayed by five hours.

Specifically, Tudela shared that Jeju, which flight was supposed to arrive on Saipan at around 3am last Friday morning, arrived at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport at around 7pm.

Meanwhile, Tudela shared that United, which flight was supposed to arrive at around 9am on Friday, arrived at around 3am on Saturday.

Tudela, who was at the airport on Saturday, shared that aside from delayed flights to Saipan, check-in counters at the Saipan International Airport were also affected by the tech outage stating many things had to be done manually when checking in passengers.

In addition, Tudela noted that a number of Customs and Border Protection personnel were present at the Saipan International Airport to screen travelers who arrived on Saipan as CBP’s system was also impacted by the tech outage.

“They had to screen passengers manually so it took a while to screen passengers,” he shared.

CPA vice chair Antonio Cabrera shared that the delays could have been a direct result of CBP’s new paperless system.

“I believe Jeju had some delays due to the IT outage specially with the Customs’ paperless system that was just recently implemented here. Before entering the CNMI from anywhere outside of the CNMI, you must fill out a CNMI Custom form via internet. Paper forms are no longer being used,” he shared.

In a statement from CPA chair Joe Ayuyu, getting the Airport’s system back up and running took a few days.

Hotels

Meanwhile, according to the Hotel Association of the NMI, local hotels were also affected by the worldwide tech outage.

“Apparently, some of our members experienced problems due to [the] global Microsoft outage, including computer issues and credit card merchant outages. There were also a couple of international passenger flights from Korea that arrived a few hours late due to the system [being] down. They had to have their passenger checked manually prior to boarding,” said HANMI chair Dennis Seo.

Seo shared that most hotels have Crisis Management or Emergency Manuals in place for possible computer system disruptions like last weekend’s global Microsoft outage or even power outages.

“We have acquired the standard operating procedure for system outages by going through the past two typhoons in 2015 and 2018. Therefore, we believe that we will be able to take all necessary measures to ensure that customers who are already fatigued from potential flight delays can use the hotel without any inconvenience. We will also take this opportunity to thoroughly review and update our emergency manual to ensure it is well-prepared. In addition, we are recommending that our guests check their flight status in case there are any delays for their departure to their destination,”

Seo said.

CUC

Also experiencing a system disruption over the weekend was CUC who sent out a notice last Friday informing the community that its pre-payment system was down.

“The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation would like to inform the general public that its electric pre-pay system is currently offline due to technical difficulties that the provider is experiencing. Electric pre-pay customers who are without power before the system went down at 3:30pm and wish to reconnect their electric services are advised to make a payment of their dues by logging into their (CUC) account. After payment have been made, please call customer services for reconnection assistance. Electric customer who are currently connected will not be affected by this interruption. CUC appreciates the community’s patience as its electric meter software provider works hard to restore Pay-Go services,” said CUC’s notice.

In a statement from CUC’s Betty Terlaje, the outage was a result of the global tech outage, but fortunately CUC was able to get its system back up after just four hours.

“CUC’s electric prepay system went down for a few hours yesterday at around 3:30pm but was up and running again by 8pm. No service was interrupted or affected other than customers couldn’t buy to add load to their accounts during that period. However, no disconnects should occur during the offline period. Public notice was put out on the matter. Thankful for the quick recovery, our prepay system is running good again,” she said.

Saipan Tribune also reached out to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. but has yet to receive a statement.