Australia's spy agency and federal police were hit by a global Microsoft outage on Friday, November 13. The government has now activated a special agreement with Microsoft to prioritize the restoration of key public services.
ASIO chief Mike Burgess and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said their teams were affected. At a news conference, neither official identified the affected systems or explained how the disruption affected their work.
The outage hit Microsoft 365, Outlook, and Teams. People in many countries could not open their email or work apps. Offices and public bodies struggled to get through the day.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia had triggered its formal agreement with Microsoft. The agreement prioritizes Australian services during the restoration process.
Burke said Microsoft does not think a cyberattack caused the problem. The company is working to fix the services and find the cause. He said the agreement helps protect the national interest.
Governments now rely on cloud tools for email, chat, and daily admin. When a big tech firm goes down, public services can suffer. This can happen even when no one has attacked the government.
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Users in several regions reported trouble. Microsoft is still looking into the access problems. The outage has raised old worries about cloud systems. Many groups rely on just a few large companies. If one of them fails, millions of people feel it at once.
Secure systems matter most for spy and police work. Staff need safe ways to talk and share information. Even so, officials have not said how badly their work was hurt.
Microsoft is still working to bring its services back. The cause, the length of the outage, and the full damage are not yet known. Australia's agencies are awaiting the restoration of services, while the government says its agreement will prioritize their needs.