Cybersecurity

A once-in-a-blue-moon cyber fiasco recently halted key operations around the world, including within major sectors across Canada, when an awry Crowdstrike update rendered nearly 10 million Microsoft devices into a state of uselessness which some dubbed “the blue screen of death.”

In Canada, services at airports, hospitals, and police stations were among those impacted by sudden tech disruption. For example, “the vast majority of arrivals and departures between Canada and the U.S. at airports in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal were postponed or called off,” reported the National Post. Within a day, however, “regular operations had been restored” at many of the affected organizations.

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Microsoft has officially responded to the major cybersecurity incident that caused drama around the world. The company determined that 8.5 million devices were affected, which sounds like a lot, but actually represents “less than one percent of all Windows machines,” according to David Weston, who serves Microsoft as Vice President of Enterprise and OS Security.

Weston clarified the affair “was not a Microsoft incident”—placing the blame squarely at the feet of CrowdStrike—but nonetheless says Microsoft is taking steps to “collect information and expedite solutions.” This incident illustrated, for better or worse, “the interconnected nature of our broad ecosystem,” the SVP observed.

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