On July 18, CrowdStrike, an independent cybersecurity company, released a software update that began impacting IT systems globally. Although this was not a Microsoft incident, it significantly impacted the Microsoft ecosystem. At Kloudify Technologies, our priority is to ensure our customers can quickly recover and continue their critical operations.
Since the event began, Microsoft has taken several steps to support customers and mitigate the impact:
- Ongoing Communication: Microsoft has maintained continuous communication with customers, CrowdStrike, and external developers to collect information and expedite solutions.
- Collaboration with CrowdStrike: Microsoft engaged with CrowdStrike to automate their work on developing a solution. CrowdStrike has recommended a workaround to address this issue and has issued a public statement. Instructions to remedy the situation on Windows endpoints were posted on the Windows Message Center.
- Deployment of Engineers: Microsoft deployed hundreds of Microsoft engineers and experts to work directly with customers to restore services. Our team has been working tirelessly to ensure the quickest possible resolution.
- Industry Collaboration: Microsoft collaborated with other cloud providers and stakeholders, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS), to share awareness of the state of impact across the industry and inform ongoing conversations with CrowdStrike and customers.
- Remediation Documentation: Microsoft quickly posted manual remediation documentation and scripts to help customers navigate this issue. Remediation steps can be found here.
- Status Updates: Microsoft kept customers informed of the latest status on the incident through the Azure Status Dashboard. This transparency is crucial in ensuring customers are aware of the steps being taken to resolve the issue.
While software updates may occasionally cause disturbances, significant incidents like the CrowdStrike event are infrequent. We estimate that CrowdStrike’s update affected approximately 8.5 million Windows devices, less than one percent of all Windows machines. However, the broad economic and societal impacts highlight the use of CrowdStrike by enterprises that run many critical services.
Our Commitment
At Kloudify Technologies, we recognise the importance of supporting mission-critical businesses that drive our country and economy. Our focus is on providing customers with the best outcomes through the right guidance and advice.
Microsoft Defender is a robust solution in the market to compete against CrowdStrike. We are actively helping our customers restore from the current outage and assess alternative Security tools like Microsoft Defender to ensure future incidents like this don’t occur. By prioritising operating with safe deployment and disaster recovery mechanisms, we can mitigate the risks associated with software updates.
Moving Forward
This incident demonstrates the interconnected nature of our broad ecosystem—global cloud providers, software platforms, security vendors, and customers. It also reminds us of the importance of collaboration and working together to recover and move forward most effectively.
We will continue to provide updates and support. At Kloudify Technologies, we are here to support our customers in achieving the best outcomes with the right guidance and advice.
If you need support or want to discuss further on how we can support you, please contact us here.