Some S’pore govt systems affected by Microsoft outage; no impact on Singpass: GovTech

SINGAPORE – Some Singapore government systems have been affected by a Microsoft service disruption on Nov 13, said the Government Technology Agency (GovTech).

This includes e-mail services, a GovTech spokesperson said on Nov 13 in response to queries, adding that the agency is working with Microsoft to restore services as soon as possible.

Emergency services remain fully operational and can be reached at 995 and 999 as usual, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Singpass is not affected, and public officers can continue to use Microsoft Teams for internal communications.

“For updates on e-services, please check the relevant agency’s official website or social media channels,” the spokesperson said.

“The e-mail disruption may delay responses to enquiries. For urgent matters, members of the public can contact the agency through other channels, such as its call centre.”

More updates will be provided when information is available, the spokesperson added.

Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams and other apps of the company remain disrupted for thousands of users globally, with Singapore users reporting issues on outage tracker Downdetector on the morning of Nov 13.

In an update on its service health status webpage at 12.22pm, Microsoft said it is working to improve server stability to improve traffic flow, including adjusting traffic protocols, redistributing traffic, and applying strategic traffic blocking measures.

“We’re observing partial recovery across regions in which we’ve applied these adjustments; however, these actions aren’t resulting in sustained recovery, so we’re reviewing what additional actions we can take to improve overall infrastructure stability,” the company said.

Earlier, Microsoft had said that there was no indication that the outage was the result of malicious activity.