Harris County, TX, July 19, 2024, This morning Harris County was impacted by a global technology outage affecting critical IT systems across the globe. Crowdstrike, a global provider of cybersecurity software, said the outage was caused by a system error on their end and was not the result of a cyberattack or security breach. They are actively working to fix the issue, and systems are beginning to come back online.
At this time, county operations are not experiencing significant disruptions. Harris Health System, Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD, Harris County Clerk’s Office and the Harris County Tax Office were affected by the outages, but they are working with our Universal Services Department (the county’s information technology department) to ensure there are minimal impacts to residents by implementing alternative processes to continue operations. Harris Health System is still able to see patients and the Harris Center is still open, although in-person patients may experience some delays until all systems are fully back online. Employees at the County Clerk’s Office and Tax Office are still able to provide services to residents. We are continuing to evaluate if there are any other impacts.
The Port of Houston was temporarily closed this morning but has now reopened. George Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby airports are fully operational, though some flights have been delayed or canceled. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office and 9-1-1 operations were not affected by the outage and are fully operational.
Our teams are monitoring the situation. We expect that systems will be fully back online by the end of today but will continue to provide updates as needed.
