Cybersecurity

CrowdStrike Crash Affected 8.5 Million Microsoft Windows Devices

The Microsoft Windows Recovery screen displayed at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York on July 19.Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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A faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. affected 8.5 million devices globally that rely on the Microsoft Windows operating system.

Microsoft Corp. gave the full scope of the worldwide IT outage for the first time in a blog post on Saturday, saying those affected represented fewer than 1% of all devices that use Windows. “While the percentage was small,” the Redmond, Washington-based company said, there were “broad economic and societal impacts.”