Microsoft is investigating an authentication issue impacting multiple Microsoft 365 cloud services including Microsoft Teams, as well as Xbox Live.
The company said the problem began just after noon PT Monday and could affect users worldwide.
- Update: Microsoft said it is rolling back an update to its authentication system to mitigate impact.
- Update 2: Microsoft said it is dealing with “technical difficulties while rolling back the problematic update. We’re working on resolving those issues while we explore additional remediation options in parallel.”
- Update 3: Microsoft said it has identified the underlying cause of the problem and is taking steps to mitigate impact.
- Update 4: Just before 3 p.m. PT, Microsoft said its update finished deployment to all impacted regions. “Microsoft 365 services continue the process of recovery and are showing decreasing error rates in telemetry. We’ll continue to monitor service health as availability is restored.”
- Update 5: Microsoft said at 3:34 a.m. PT on Tuesday that a majority of services impacted have recovered.
Microsoft will provide updates at the Azure status page, on the Office status page, and on Twitter.
Numerous users reported problems. Seattle Public Schools, which uses Teams for remote education, notified all staff of the authentication issue. Other city-related services were impacted. Update, 4:21 p.m. PT — Seattle Public Schools says the Teams and Office 365 issue is now resolved.
Our vaccine appointment notification list was temporarily impacted by the worldwide Microsoft disruption. The notification list is now back up and running.
Sign up today: https://t.co/yJjePY7h8W
— SEA Mayor's Office (@OfficeofMayor) March 15, 2021
Just lost my 5th period class after @MicrosoftTeams crashed. 7th period is in jeopardy… https://t.co/ynYAUvyxUt
— Su Ring (@Motley_Su) March 15, 2021
…and there you have it folks… @MicrosoftTeams is down and out!
As the Director of IT for my organization. I can honestly say.. my anxiety levels are slightly heightened. pic.twitter.com/dcT7Lllz9e
— Justice P. Sikakane, Sr. ???????? (@JusticeSikakane) March 15, 2021
Teams usage has skyrocketed over the past year — reaching 115 million daily active users in October — as companies, school districts, and others rely on the communication tool amid the pandemic.
Microsoft is dealing with a widespread cybersecurity attack against its Exchange Servers. It’s unclear if today’s outage is connected. We’ll update this post as we learn more.
