{
  "id": 20003067,
  "title": "The Microsoft 365 outage sent Japan back to fax machines and landlines",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/the-microsoft-365-outage-sent-japan-back-to-fax-machines-and-landlines",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-14T15:51:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechSpot",
    "slug": "techspot",
    "url": "https://www.techspot.com/news/114556-microsoft-365-outage-sent-japan-back-fax-machines.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Microsoft 365 outage has caused businesses, government agencies, and organizations across Japan to revert to traditional fax machines and landline phones to maintain operations. The outage, which has yet to be fully resolved, has affected nearly all of Microsoft's popular cloud services, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Copilot, and Xbox. Workers across the country have had to resort to analog technologies, while organizations without backup plans were forced to halt work. Japan's Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary confirmed that the country's shared IT backbone also went down, disrupting critical government operations. While some workers lamented the lack of productivity and financial losses, others welcomed the temporary respite from Japan's workaholic culture.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Engadget",
        "title": "Microsoft services are returning after an outage took down Outlook, Teams and more",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/microsoft-services-are-returning-after-an-outage-took-down-outlook",
        "published": "2026-11-13T16:35:36.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Bangkok Post Business",
        "title": "Outlook outage sounds cloud alarm",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/outlook-outage-sounds-cloud-alarm",
        "published": "2026-11-13T21:21:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "SiliconANGLE",
        "title": "Massive Microsoft outage disrupts businesses, government agencies worldwide",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/massive-microsoft-outage-disrupts-businesses-government-agencies",
        "published": "2026-11-14T00:00:08.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Nairametrics",
        "title": "Microsoft restores Teams, Outlook after over 24-hour global outage, rules out cyberattack",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/microsoft-restores-teams-outlook-after-over-24-hour-global-outage",
        "published": "2026-11-14T11:06:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Guardian Technology",
        "title": "Microsoft says services fully restored after global outage hits governments",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/14/microsoft-says-services-fully-restored-after-global-outage-hits",
        "published": "2026-11-14T11:54:31.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}