Microsoft hosting cybersecurity summit after global IT outage
6:01 am Tuesday, September 10th, 2024
(Reuters) – Microsoft will hold a summit on Tuesday to discuss steps to improve cybersecurity systems, after a faulty software update from CrowdStrike caused a global IT outage in July.
The conference marks the first significant step by Microsoft to address the issues that affected nearly 8.5 million Windows devices on July 19, disrupting operations across industries ranging from major airlines to banks and healthcare.
The event will be held at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and will include invited government representatives.
The July outage raised concerns that many organizations are not well prepared to implement contingency plans when a single point of failure such as an IT system, or a piece of software within it, goes down. Analysts have said the outage also exposed risks of dependence on a single vendor providing a one-stop shop for security solutions.
Delta Air Lines has said it was pursuing legal claims against CrowdStrike and Microsoft, after the outage caused mass flight cancellations and cost the carrier at least $500 million.
(Reporting by Chris Sanders; Editing by Leslie Adler)
