Microsoft suffer system outage affecting Outlook, Teams and Copilot, exec says there's "no indication this is the result of malicious or cyber activity"

Microsoft 365 has been experiencing a significant system outage, impacting Outlook, Teams, and Copilot for six days. As of the latest update, the company is reporting encouraging recovery progress in Europe and is actively addressing the remaining areas of disruption. The issue was reported by the BBC who have been providing a live report since it has affected schools, government services and medical services.

It remains unclear whether Xbox services are also affected, as the Xbox status support page currently indicates all services are functioning properly, although Downdetector shows a recent surge in reports of issues. Microsoft's executive Charles LaManna expressed regret over the disruptions caused to customers and confirmed that there is no indication the outage is the result of malicious or cyber activity.

While the absence of a major hack is somewhat reassuring, the prolonged timeframe for implementing proper fixes is troubling. Microsoft has stated that some of their initial attempts at rectifying the situation have not been as efficient as anticipated. The incident highlights the vulnerability of relying on a single technology stack that can bring key global infrastructure to a standstill.

It remains to be seen if Microsoft's recent efforts to offload many staff and embrace AI have contributed to the service outages that affected numerous users over the past few days.