Microsoft said Friday it will hold a summit in September to discuss steps to improve cybersecurity systems, after a faulty CrowdStrike update caused a global IT service outage last month.
The conference marks Microsoft’s first major step toward addressing issues that affected nearly 8.5 million Windows devices on July 19, disrupting operations in industries ranging from major airlines to banking and health care.
The event will take place on September 10 at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company will invite government representatives to the meeting, it said in a blog post.
“The CrowdStrike service outage in July provides us with important lessons we can apply as an ecosystem,” Microsoft said.
The outage raised concerns that many organizations are ill-prepared to implement contingency plans when a single point, such as an IT system or a piece of software within it, fails.
“We look forward to bringing our perspective to discussions with Microsoft and industry and government stakeholders about the need for a more resilient ecosystem,” a CrowdStrike spokesperson said when reached for comment.
Analysts have said the disruption has exposed the risks of relying on a single vendor to provide a comprehensive security solution.
CrowdStrike, which has lost about $9 billion of its market value since the outage, has been sued by shareholders who said the cybersecurity firm defrauded them by concealing how its inadequate software testing could cause the global outage.
Earlier this month, Delta Air Lines said it was filing lawsuits against CrowdStrike and Microsoft after the outage caused mass flight cancellations and cost the airline at least $500 million.
CrowdStrike is scheduled to report its second-quarter financial results after the US market closes on August 28.
First published: August 23, 2024 | 10:42 PM IS
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