Editor’s NoteCheck out our frequently updated live blog All the latest updates on the Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage.
During the recent global IT outage, a faulty update to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike’s software took down millions of Windows PCs, causing billions of dollars worth of damage across many industries, including air transportation, retail and banking.
But Mac devices were unaffected because Apple’s macOS operating system doesn’t allow third-party app makers kernel-level access, preventing the kind of catastrophic errors that trigger the dreaded “blue screen” on Windows PCs.
Now Microsoft says a long-standing agreement with the European Commission prevents it from providing similar protections.
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“Due to a complaint and an agreement reached with the European Commission, we cannot legally block our operating system as Apple has done,” a Microsoft spokesman said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.
This refers to a 2009 agreement in which Microsoft promised to give third-party security app developers the same access to the Windows OS as Microsoft itself. In contrast, Apple took away third-party developer access to the kernel when it released macOS Catalina in 2019.
Microsoft releases easier CrowdStrike fix
The flawed CrowdStrike update caused system crashes on many Windows PCs, dealing a devastating blow to IT systems around the world. Fixes could not be easily deployed because any reboot would immediately result in the system crashing again, creating a condition known as a “reboot loop.”
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said in a letter to customers and partners that the company is taking steps to “prevent this from happening again.” But the question is: What steps should Microsoft take to ensure that a minor update to third-party software (made by CrowdStrike or others) doesn’t again wreak havoc on the world’s IT infrastructure?
We’ve reached out to Microsoft for comment on this issue and will update this article if we hear back.
