U.S.-based carriers and Australian banks were among those reporting disruptions. Similar waves of tech hiccups have hit in recent weeks.
Major banks and airlines were among businesses hit by a fresh global online outage Thursday, with the problem traced to U.S.-based tech provider Akamai. An hour-long blackout hit a number of U.S. airlines and several Australian financial firms as well as other companies dotted around the world, with angry customers unable to access websites and mobile apps. «We are aware of the issue and actively working to restore services as soon as possible,» an Akamai spokesperson told CBS News. It is the latest incident to draw attention to the stability of economically vital online platforms, and the key role that a handful of mostly unknown companies play in keeping the web running. Internet monitoring websites such as ThousandEyes, Downdetector.com and fing.com reported dozens of disruptions Thursday, according to The Associated Press. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange tweeted Thursday afternoon that its site was facing technical issues and that it was investigating, the AP said. The outage lasted about 17 minutes.
