Microsoft Unfairly Blamed for Worldwide Outage
Image: Microsoft
Friday has been a perfect storm of chaos in the tech world. Flights grounded, banks gone dark and media companies thrown into disarray.
Happily, the world found the cause of this issue. Microsoft.
But hold on, before joining the mob let’s get the story straight.
The Real Culprit
As the world entered meltdown there were whisperings on X (which amazingly stayed up and working) that a hacker in a dark room was to blame.
Then the media got their thinking caps on. Since Macs seemed unaffected surely the cause of the worldwide issues was Microsoft?
As passengers sleep on airport floors and IT departments cry into their phone lines the blame finally hit the target. A defective update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has brought Windows hosts to their knees, including travel specialists and medical providers.
Scapegoats
I wouldn’t usually try to protect a multinational like Microsoft.
Yet despite the issues originating from CrowdStrike Microsoft has found itself in the hot seat.
Newspapers ran with sensational stories making it clear Microsoft are to blame.
Despite Azure most certainly being a secondary victim of this issue.
Notice in these articles there is no mention of CrowdStrike. When CrowdStrike sneezes, the world catches the cold. If and when Microsoft’s services have a hiccup that becomes the problem of the tech giant, which is not surprising since we are so reliant on the output of a few companies.
The Markets Are Not So Stupid
This is going to hurt one company, and it’s CrowdStrike:
Although, sure, markets are not that smart either.
Conclusion
While it’s easy to blame Microsoft for the widespread disruption, the real issue lies in the complex web of dependencies in our tech infrastructure. A faulty update can have far-reaching consequences, and Microsoft, being the giant it is, bore the brunt of the blame.
As we move forward, it’s clear that transparency and cooperation among tech giants are more crucial than ever to prevent such widespread chaos.