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Source-This post on Global IT Outage has been created based on the article “Global outage has lessons for the future” published in “Business Standards” on 22 July 2024.
UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper-3- Basics of Cyber Security; Money-Laundering and its prevention.
Context- The flawed security update outage recently led to losses totaling tens of billions of dollars, affecting banks, hospitals, airlines, ports, stock exchanges, and numerous other businesses. The outage was caused by a flawed security update pushed out by cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike. This update was automatically installed on many Windows computers, especially those linked to Microsoft Cloud (Azure).
What are the issues highlighted by this incident?
1) Cyber Emergencies– This incident acts as a “Dry Run” for future cyber-attacks. It highlights the importance of improved contingency planning to minimize the impact of such disasters or cyber threats going forward.
2) Vulnerabilities of Operating System Monoculture -Windows’ widespread adoption in corporate settings offers standardization benefits but increases vulnerability on a scale. It highlighted the risks of operating system monoculture and the concentration of market share in Cloud and cybersecurity services. These factors make large organizations attractive targets for cyber-attacks.
3) Limited User Control Over OS Updates -Office computers and laptops restrict users from making OS changes, as updates are automatically pushed out by IT departments. Even users who are knowledgeable about these updates couldn’t prevent the flawed one from being installed.
What should be the way forward?
1) Enhancing IT Resilience- The Crowdstrike incident could motivate global companies to enhance their IT system resilience and disaster-recovery protocols. They should reconsider their reliance on single-platform solutions and implement safeguards against future disruptions.
2) Enhanced Disaster-Recovery Practices -Insurance companies impacted by the financial losses should advocate for reviews of disaster-recovery practices among their clients.
3) Optimizing Update Rollouts– Phased rollouts of updates could help catch bugs before widespread implementation.
Question for practice
What are the concerns raised by this incident? What steps should be taken next?
