Government officials said the Department of Homeland Security computer system caused backups at international ports of entry. The computer checks passengers against names on the terror watch list; it went down for about 90 minutes Wednesday, causing back-ups and frustration at John F. Kennedy International Airport and other international airports.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: “U.S. Customs and Border Protection experienced a temporary outage with its processing systems at air ports of entry in the United States and took immediate action to address the technology disruption. In the meantime, CBP officers processed international travelers using alternative procedures until systems were back on line. The outage lasted about 90 minutes. At this time, there is no indication the service disruption was malicious in nature.”