Microsoft reveals 8.5 million computers affected by global outage

Redmond, July 23, 2024 – Microsoft has disclosed that 8.5 million computers worldwide were impacted by a recent global outage caused by a corrupted software update from Crowdstrike, leading to a widespread Windows malfunction from Thursday to Friday.

Ciaran Martin, former director of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, highlighted the incident’s significance: “We have long discussed the inherent fragility of the internet’s core components. These small elements of activity and infrastructure underpin the entire system and, if they go wrong, can have very serious global consequences.”

This marks the first time Microsoft has quantified the scope of the outage, suggesting it could be one of the most severe cyber events in history. The disruption grounded flights, halted card payments for businesses, and forced hospitals and clinics to cancel services.