http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240804050198

Crowdstrike did not have a good day on July 19. During
a routine software update, the file that the cybersecurity
firm issued triggered a logic error that prohibited Windows
machines from rebooting. Microsoft estimates that around
8.5 million computers may have been affected by the event.

This created a tsunami of downstream consequences, as
computers that supported numerous industry operations
were unable to coordinate and process data.

For air travel, the net effect was the cancellation of
more than 10,000 flights since July 19, as reported by
FlightAware, with Delta Air Lines particularly hit hard.
Using very conservative estimates, if each flight was
booked on average with 64 people, and the average cost
of a ticket was $290, the lost direct revenue on these
days totaled more than $180 million.

.. . .

Look, this is a good question.

Be it mere random error or unhappy employee or even
Russian tampering - the global computer outage rang
up a GIGANTIC bill. A full day, or two or three, of
NO BUSINESS across the globe.

M$ itself was hacked just a few days ago, in a
separate incident, again causing long down-times
for its products. This time it was clearly someone
who fully understood the M$ plan to deal with
Denial-Of-Services attacks who turned that plan
AGAINST them, causing far LARGER denials. Insider ?
Russia ? China ? Might never know.

In each case however, the impacts caused a HUGE
loss of biz revenue. So WHO PAYS ??? No insurer
can possibly cover something of this scale, nor
can private companies.

I'd suggest most biz turn to Unix/Linux ... they
are MORE resistant - but, remember, not TOTALLY
resistant. Smart criminals/hacks/disgruntled CAN
find ways to do damage - directly or indirectly.

CrowdStrike, and before that SolarWinds, were what
would be called "indirect" attacks ... sneaky code
in 3rd-party 'security'/'convenience' software.
Yea yea ... they'll PROMISE to be perfect but,
really, it's pretty much bullshit.

What's LEFT of corporate/govt IT departments will
continue to rely on these 3rd-party fixes because
then they can blame SOMEONE ELSE when things go
horribly wrong. Butt-covering rules all ....