Microsoft to host cybersecurity summit after CrowdStrike-induced IT outage

SAN FRANCISCO - Microsoft said on Aug 23 it would hold a summit in September to discuss steps to improve cybersecurity systems, after a faulty update from CrowdStrike caused a global IT outage in July.

The conference marks the first big 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 on Sept 10 at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

The company will invite government representatives to the gathering, it said in a blog post.

“The CrowdStrike outage in July presents important lessons for us to apply as an ecosystem,” Microsoft said.

The outage raised concerns that many organisations 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.

“We look forward to bringing our perspective to the discussions with Microsoft and industry and government stakeholders on the need for a more resilient ecosystem,” a CrowdStrike spokesperson said, when contacted for a comment.

Analysts have said the outage has exposed risks of dependence on single-vendor providing one-stop shop for security solutions.

CrowdStrike, which has lost about US$9 billion (S$11 billion) of its market value since the outage, has been sued by shareholders, who said the cybersecurity company defrauded them by concealing how its inadequate software testing could cause the global disruption.

Earlier in August, Delta Air Lines said it was pursuing legal claims against CrowdStrike and Microsoft, after the outage caused mass flight cancellations and

cost the carrier at least US$500 million.

CrowdStrike is scheduled to report its second-quarter financial results after the US market close on Aug 28. REUTERS