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CrowdStrike’s global outage doesn’t have to be a recurring nightmare

One of the most disturbing things about Friday’s devastating global IT system outages is how commonplace such disastrous events have become.

In recent years, similar outages at companies like Amazon.com have temporarily shut down systems around the world. This latest problem stems from a botched software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings, whose links to mega-client Microsoft have led to global problems, including chaos at airports, trade shows and hospitals. A fix has now been implemented.

This time, the scale is unprecedented. That should prompt Microsoft and other IT companies to do more than just stick a band-aid on the wound. Policymakers could also address the global reliance on just three cloud providers. Today’s reality, where a single bug can harm millions of people at once, doesn’t have to be the status quo.