(Reuters) – Microsoft held a summit on Tuesday to discuss steps to improve its cybersecurity systems after a faulty CrowdStrike software update caused a global IT outage in July.
The conference was Microsoft’s first significant step toward resolving the issues that affected nearly 8.5 million Windows devices on July 19 and disrupted operations across a range of industries, from major airlines to banking and healthcare.
The conference took place at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington.
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 software within it, fails. Analysts said the outage also exposed the risks of relying on a single vendor that offers one-stop security solutions.
According to a Microsoft post on X, Microsoft executive David Weston said at the summit that “the Windows security ecosystem must grow together to create a safer and more reliable world.”
Delta Air Lines has said it is taking legal action against CrowdStrike and Microsoft after the outage caused mass flight cancellations and cost the airline at least $500 million.
(Reporting by Chris Sanders and Raphael Satter; Editing by Leslie Adler)
