The global Microsoft outage has mainly disrupted email communication in Cyprus’s public sector but has not affected the state’s core digital services and systems, Nicodemos Damianou, the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, said on Friday. In a written statement, he said CY Login, which citizens and businesses use to access government services online, was working normally.
Where urgent or critical communication is needed, there are alternative ways to contact public services and exchange files, he said. Government departments can also use the eOasis system to communicate and manage documents with one another.
The problem affects organisations worldwide and mainly concerns email, Teams and Copilot, Damianou said, adding that it does not amount to a general shutdown of Microsoft’s systems and services.
State services are in constant contact with Microsoft about the progress of repairs, he said. According to the company, emails not delivered because of the fault are expected to arrive late.
On the wider economy, Damianou said it was important to distinguish problems with electronic communication from the operation of core digital services. Banks, for example, have extensively digitised their transactions, and according to the information available, their core operations and customer service had continued without serious problems.
The incident showed the need to strengthen the digital infrastructure of states, particularly in Europe, “to avoid dependencies on specific technology giants”, he said. He noted that debate at European level had increasingly focused on technological sovereignty, reducing strategic dependencies and making digital infrastructure more resilient.
(Information from Cyprus News Agency)
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