An IT expert explains to L’Observatoire de l’Europe Next that despite the tests, outages like Crowdstrike cannot be completely ruled out.
The massive computer outage that paralyzed the world on Friday could happen again, an IT expert warns.
The disaster was caused by a “flaw” in a Windows software update by cyber security firm Crowdstrike, which crippled machines running Microsoft Windows and damaged airports, businesses, hospitals, media and other industries.
According to Axel Legay, professor of computer science at the Catholic University of Louvain, the more interconnected a computer is, the more vulnerable it is.
“The more software is interconnected, the more sensitive we will be because more and more software will be interacting and it will increase,” Legay said in an interview with L’Observatoire de l’Europe Next.
On Friday, about 30,000 flights around the world were postponed, and about 7,000 flights were canceled. Actions continued on Saturday.
The overall impact was immeasurable, but the incident wiped billions of dollars off Crowdstrike’s value as trading opened on Friday.
Many businesses use Microsoft and depend on this software to continue their operations. With each new update, those related to the systems used by large companies are thoroughly checked and tested for possible bugs. However, “these mistakes happen every day,” Legay points out.
The problem is that “the concept of testing is not perfect,” he said.
Legay added: “There is no way to prove that the test will prove that there will be no accidents, because there is no mathematical theory that can prove it.”
Error in antivirus
So what was Crowdstrike’s flaw that caused flight delays and cancellations around the world?
“It’s just an updated antivirus, and the new update isn’t very compatible with Microsoft’s systems,” Legay explains.
After the update, thousands of businesses around the world began to see a blue screen on their screens, indicating that their computer programs are not working. This is called a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).
“That’s because antivirus is complicated. Microsoft’s system itself is complex. So sometimes when you try to combine two things, they are so complicated that you don’t really know what will happen,” Legay told L’Observatoire de l’Europe Next.
What will be the consequences of this IT failure for Microsoft, the Big Tech giant? According to Lega, their number seems to be few.
“You have to admit, they have a monopoly,” he said, stressing that it could damage their image and reputation. The same will not be true for long-term or economic outcomes.
“Maybe the stock market will go down a little bit,” he said.
He added that despite knowing that no system is 100% secure, the EU has not invested enough in cyber security for years.