Microsoft to host cybersecurity summit after CrowdStrike-induced IT outage

 Microsoft said on Friday (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 last month.

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.

"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.

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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 $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 this month, 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 $500 million.

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