Microsoft announces 8.5 million Windows devices affected by software issue

In a statement from the company, it was recalled that CrowdStrike, an independent cybersecurity firm, released a software update on July 18 that began affecting information technology systems globally.

Stating that while this was not a Microsoft incident, it affected its ecosystem, the statement noted that the company has maintained constant communication with its customers, CrowdStrike, and external developers to gather information and accelerate solutions since the beginning of the event.

The statement pointed out that while software updates occasionally cause issues, significant events like the one involving CrowdStrike are rare, adding, "We currently estimate that the CrowdStrike update affected 8.5 million Windows devices, or less than one percent of all Windows machines."

Noting that while the percentage is small, the broad economic and societal impacts reflect that CrowdStrike is used by organizations running many critical services, the statement recorded that this event highlights the interconnected nature of the broad ecosystem consisting of global cloud providers, software platforms, security and other software vendors, and customers.

The global software issue, which affected many sectors due to a disconnect between the update from CrowdStrike—which provides cybersecurity services to Microsoft—and the Microsoft operating system, negatively impacted life in many parts of the world yesterday.