Some Australian supermarkets have started accepting cash transactions due to the widespread tech outage, which has affected banks, airports, and retailers.
Customers of Woolworths and Coles have shared photos of their closed self-service stations on social media, and they have been asked to use cash.
Others said they had long lines at their local stores due to the limited number of available checkouts.
Some of the facilities and stores of Woolworths and Coles were affected by the outage. A spokesperson for the two companies said that six of their stores had been temporarily closed, and some orders could not be fulfilled online.
They added that they would provide further updates as their systems were fixed. Other businesses reportedly turned away customers due to the computer issues.
A customer from Adelaide was frustrated after she was told she could not use her card to pay for her groceries at a local supermarket. She noted that the widespread tech outage could affect the way people buy food.
Another shopper from Adelaide said that she was worried about how the outage would affect people’s ability to pay their bills. She noted that it could also cause dangerous situations to occur. The issue is said to be caused by the computer security firm CrowdStrike and Microsoft.
Experts blamed the excessive number of updates that were pushed out at the same time for the outage.
According to CrowdStrike, the company was able to resolve the issue after an erroneous update was released. In a statement, it said that users should reboot their devices to get the new changes.
Microsoft also said that users would see gradual improvements as the company tries to address the issue.
The Australian government said that it was working with its cybersecurity coordinator to determine the cause of the outage.
It did not appear that it was a cyberattack. A spokesperson for the government noted that there was no evidence suggesting that the incident was a cybersecurity issue.
