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Microsoft said it estimated that the CrowdStrike update, which caused massive IT outages around the world on Friday, affected 8.5 million Windows devices.
The tech giant said it was not responsible for the IT outage, adding that the outage affected less than 1% of all Windows machines worldwide.
This IT outage could be the largest ever
We now have several IT outages of how severe they might be. In terms of computers being banned worldwide.
It could be argued that this could be the largest cyber incident in history, surpassing all previous hacks and outages.
The closest thing to this was the WannaCry cyberattack in 2017, which was estimated to have affected around 300,000 computers in 150 countries. A month later, a similarly costly and destructive attack called NotPetya occurred.
In 2021, Meta, which runs Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, also suffered a massive six-hour outage, but the scope of the outage was mainly limited to the social media giant and some related partners.
The company said it is “working around the clock” to provide “ongoing updates and support” with the help of CrowdStrike.
The tech giant stressed that this was not an issue caused by its software and said the incident highlighted the importance of businesses “prioritizing existing mechanisms for secure deployment and disaster recovery.”
How hackers exploit IT outages
Whenever there’s a major news event, especially one related to technology, hackers adapt their existing methods to deal with the fear and uncertainty.
We’ve seen the same thing during the COVID-19 pandemic, as hackers have adapted their phishing email attacks to target individuals and organizations, offering information about the virus and even pretending to have an antidote.
As this IT outage made global news, we saw hackers taking advantage of the opportunity.
Secureworks researchers say there has been a sharp rise in CrowdStrike-themed domain name registrations — where hackers register new websites that appear official and could trick IT managers or the public into downloading malware or handing over private details.
This advice is primarily for IT managers who were impacted by this incident and are trying to get their organization back online.
But individuals could also be targeted, so experts warn to be cautious and act only on information coming from official CrowdStrike channels.
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