Microsoft claims that it estimates that 8.5 million computers worldwide have been disabled as a result of a global IT system failure. The failure was the fault of CrowdStrike, which sent a corrupted software update to a huge number of its customers, the BBC reports, according to UNN.
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In a statement, David Weston, a vice president at Microsoft, said that this number represents less than 1% of all Windows machines in the world, but “the broad economic and societal implications reflect the use of CrowdStrike by enterprises running many critical services.
The tech giant, which emphasized that this is not a problem with its software, says the incident highlights how important it is for companies like CrowdStrike to use quality control on updates before they are sent out.
“It's also a reminder of how important it is for all of us in the technology ecosystem to prioritize secure deployment and disaster recovery through existing mechanisms,” said Mr. Weston.
The consequences of the IT failure were enormous and have already become one of the worst cyber incidents in history.
The number given by Microsoft means that this is probably the largest cyber event in history, dwarfing all previous hacks and disruptions.
The closest thing to this is the WannaCry cyberattack in 2017, which is estimated to have affected about 300,000 computers in 150 countries. A month later, a similarly costly and devastating attack called NotPetya took place.