Microsoft rules out cyberattack after global outage affects Outlook and Teams

Microsoft confirmed that a global service outage affecting Outlook, Teams, and Copilot was caused by high load during a network capacity upgrade. The company ruled out a cyberattack or malicious activity as the cause of the disruption. The technical issue began on November 12, 2026, and required a gradual restoration process to ensure system stability.

Scope of the global disruption

The outage spread rapidly across the globe, reaching 74 countries and territories in less than one hour, according to Downdetector. The disruption affected Microsoft 365 services, which serve approximately 500 million users worldwide. Because Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based service used by millions of people and organizations, the technical failure had widespread consequences.

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the disruption affected its ability to receive emails. The ministry stated that the outage impacted all overseas embassies, consulates, and representative offices. The scale of the disruption meant that essential communication channels were unavailable to various government entities and private organizations alike.

Impact on critical infrastructure

The outage impacted several vital sectors, including hospitals, airports, police forces, and schools. Financial markets also faced challenges as the disruption impacted stock exchanges. Some European companies were forced to delay financial reporting due to the inability to access necessary digital tools.

Microsoft stated that initial mitigation measures did not work as expected. The company had to implement a gradual restoration process to ensure stability across its global network. While the disruption was still being resolved on November 13, 2026, the company reported seeing positive results in server stability.

Technical cause and official response

Microsoft confirmed the incident was a technical issue and was not related to cyberattacks or AI agents. The company stated it found no evidence of malicious activity during the event. The specific cause was a technical issue during a network capacity upgrade following a recent network change.

Charles Lamanna, the Executive Vice President at Microsoft, apologized for the disruption caused to customers. Charles Lamanna stated that the company is working to resolve the issue and restore full service to all affected users. The company continues to monitor the stability of the Microsoft 365 environment to prevent further interruptions to the nearly 500 million users relying on these services.

Glossary

• Microsoft 365 — Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based service used by millions of people and organizations. It serves approximately 500 million users worldwide.
• Copilot — Copilot is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Microsoft AI. It utilizes the Microsoft Prometheus model, which is built upon OpenAI's GPT large language models.
• New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs — The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs states that New Zealand and the United States are close strategic partners. The ministry has a deep and longstanding friendship with the United States.
• embassies — Embassies are locations that may require visa applicants to provide biometric identifiers. They are part of the process for handling visa applications.