Hundreds of Microsoft IT experts deployed to restore global shutdown services – Firstpost

US software giant Microsoft has deployed hundreds of engineers and experts to its customers to restore their services following an outage caused by its cybersecurity partner CrowdStrike, the company said in a blog post.

According to Microsoft, 8.5 million devices worldwide were affected by the outage, which was caused by a July 18 update to CrowdStrike.

“Hundreds of Microsoft engineers and experts are being deployed to work directly with customers to restore services,” Microsoft said in a July 20 blog post.

The global outage affected multiple outlets and even grounded airlines in India.

The outage brought operations of companies and systems around the world to a standstill.

Airport and airline operations were significantly disrupted by the outage, with airlines issuing advisories to passengers. IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa experienced disruptions to their online check-in and boarding processes across their networks, forcing them to switch to manual mode.

Several users reported outages on the outage tracking website Downdetector, with many expressing frustration over the “Blue Screen of Death” error messages on X (now Twitter).

Microsoft said it is working with other cloud providers and stakeholders, including Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS), to raise awareness about the impact it sees in the sector and to support ongoing conversations with CrowdStrike and customers.

“We recognize the disruption this issue has caused to businesses and the daily routines of many individuals. Our focus is on providing technical guidance and support to customers to safely bring disrupted systems back online,” the blog said.

According to the software giant, the incident demonstrates the existence of a broad technology ecosystem consisting of global cloud providers, software platforms, security and other software vendors, and customers.

“It’s also a reminder of how important it is for all of us in the technology ecosystem to prioritize working with secure deployment and disaster recovery using existing mechanisms,” Microsoft said.

The software giant said that software updates can occasionally cause disruptions, but that major incidents like the CrowdStrike event are rare.