Microsoft blames EU for global IT outage triggered by faulty Crowdfire update

American tech company Microsoft has blamed the European Union (EU) for allowing the world’s worst IT outage to happen which was triggered by a faulty Crowdfire update.

Microsoft stated that a 2009 agreement with the EU prevented it from making security upgrades that would have prevented the CrowdStrike update, which caused global travel, business, and healthcare havoc last Friday.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the company agreed to grant kernel-level access to numerous security vendors, including CrowdStrike, following a competitive probe.

READ ALSO: CrowdStrike: Microsoft reveals 8.5m Windows devices affected in global downtime

Reports say that the agreement contrasts sharply with Apple’s decision to restrict such access on Mac computers, a move cited as enhancing security and reliability.

A Microsoft spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the company was unable to make a similar adjustment just like Apple did due to the EU agreement.

The tech company stated that the outage affected up to 8.5 million Windows devices, accounting for less than 1% of all workstations using the program. However, it claimed that there had been significant consequences because CrowdStrike is frequently employed by enterprises.

CrowdStrike has stated that “a significant number” of the affected systems are back online and has apologized for what occurred.

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