No sign of cyberattack, says Microsoft exec as outage snares OpenAI, Anthropic and even Australia’s spy agency

Microsoft's executive vice president Charles Lamanna said there is no indication that the ongoing global outage that started November 12, 2026 is the result of malicious or cyber activity. — AFP pic

First Published: Friday, 13 Nov 2026 4:56 PM MYT

SINGAPORE, Nov 13 — There is no indication that the ongoing Microsoft service outage on Friday (November 13) is the result of malicious or cyber activity, said the company’s executive vice president Charles Lamanna.

Taking to X at around 11.40am, Lamanna said Microsoft regrets the disruptions caused to its customers and is continuing to work on addressing the issue.

“We will continue to share more information as soon as we have it, and for now I can confirm that there is no indication this is the result of malicious or cyber activity,” the executive wrote.

In an update at 1.46pm, Microsoft said its engineers are continuing to pursue multiple workstreams to pinpoint the underlying cause of the traffic influx.

It had earlier attributed the disruption to “elevated load” on its infrastructure in multiple regions.

On efforts to advance the recoverability of its backend servers, Microsoft said it is taking a “measured approach” to identify and repair affected infrastructure.

This, it said, is to improve the ability to confirm the developed changes applied.

“We’re tracking the results of this approach to verify the servers are showing the anticipated recovery and performance intended.”

Impact on businesses, public services

Millions of companies around the world are estimated to use Microsoft services, including tech giants OpenAI and Anthropic, which have both reported problems as a result of the outage.

Services affected include Teams, Outlook and Copilot, with users reporting “connectivity problems”.

The outage, which began some time between 1.15am to 2am (Singapore time) on Friday, has now dragged on for over 12 hours.

Beyond businesses, governments have also reported disruptions.

Australia’s spy agency and federal police were among organisations caught up in the outage, while the US House of Representatives said the outage impacted its users.

The Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) said the disruption may affect responses to email enquiries, but reassured residents that emergency services remain fully operational. — AsiaOne