Global IT failure hits 8.5 million computers
Photo: 8.5 million computers around the world crashed due to an IT failure (unsplash com)
Due to a technical IT failure, 8.5 million Windows computers worldwide have malfunctioned. This represents less than 1% of all Windows machines globally, according to the BBC.
The failure was caused by a security company, CrowdStrike, which released a faulty software update.
"We currently estimate that CrowdStrike’s update affected 8.5 million Windows devices," stated Microsoft.
The company notes that it can accurately determine the number of affected devices because it has telemetry on the performance of many devices based on their internet connections.
The BBC calls this recent failure one of the worst cyber incidents in history. The closest comparison is the WannaCry cyberattack in 2017, which affected about 300,000 computers in 150 countries. A month later, there was another attack called NotPetya.
In 2021, there was also a serious failure at Meta (which operates Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp), which lasted six hours.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has urged users to be cautious, as hackers have become more active following the failure.
Global IT system failure
One of the largest IT failures occurred on Friday, July 19, causing Windows computers to malfunction. The reason was an error in CrowdStrike's software.
Failures were recorded worldwide, including in Ukraine. Issues were observed in the operations of Nova Poshta, Monobank, and Sense Bank.
More details about the global failure and its consequences can be found in our report.
