Microsoft outage spares key Cyprus government services

The global disruption to Microsoft services has not affected Cyprus’ essential digital government services, Deputy Minister of Research Nicodemos Damianou said on Friday. Damianou said the outage, which affected organisations worldwide, primarily disrupted email communications and applications including Microsoft Teams and Copilot, rather than causing a general failure of digital systems. “The problem that occurred in Microsoft services affects organisations worldwide and primarily concerns communication via email, and the Teams and Copilot applications, and does not entail a generalised disruption of its systems and services,” he said. “The state services are in constant communication with Microsoft regarding the progress of repairing the damage,” he said. According to the company, emails that failed to reach their recipients during the disruption were expected to be delivered with a delay. Damianou said the incident highlighted the need to strengthen digital infrastructure at both national and European level and reduce dependence on major technology providers. “It is no coincidence that in recent years the discussion at the European level has increasingly focused on technological sovereignty, reducing strategic dependencies and strengthening the resilience of digital infrastructures,” he said. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Michalis Kyriakides, a systems administrator at Cyprus-based IT services provider Bolton Technologies, said the outage appeared to have originated within Microsoft’s infrastructure, leaving local IT departments unable to resolve the underlying problem. Kyriakides said Microsoft services were widely used by Cypriot businesses and organisations, although the lack of relevant data made it difficult to estimate how many users had been affected. “I would expect the disruption to have affected a considerable number of employees and businesses across Cyprus,” he said. He explained that the impact extended beyond difficulties sending and receiving emails, as many businesses relied on Microsoft 365 for everyday operations. “For many businesses, Microsoft 365 is an essential part of their daily operation,” he said. Kyriakides pointed to Outlook for communication, Teams for meetings and other Microsoft applications used to access and manage information. “When these services become unavailable or unstable, normal business activities are interrupted,” he said. Users had reported difficulties accessing their mailboxes, sending and receiving messages, synchronising emails and using Teams. “This creates delays in communication, interrupts meetings, affects coordination between departments and can ultimately reduce business productivity,” Kyriakides said. Microsoft said earlier on Friday that server issues were behind the disruption, adding that it was not aware of any malicious activity linked to the incident. According to Reuters, the outage was among the largest in Microsoft’s history and marked the company’s second major service disruption this year. Outlook and Teams are among the world’s most widely used workplace applications, serving millions of users across government departments, schools, universities and businesses.