Microsoft says it estimates that a CrowdStrike update – which caused a mass IT outage worldwide on Friday – affected 8.5 million Windows devices.
The tech giant, which says it was not responsible for the IT glitch, adds that the figure accounts for less than 1% of all Windows machines worldwide.
IT outage likely to be the largest ever
We now have several how bad the IT outage may have been in terms of disabled computers worldwide.
It's fair to say this is probably the largest-ever cyber event eclipsing all previous hacks and outages.
The closest to this is the WannaCry cyber attack in 2017 which is estimated to have impacted around 300,000 computers in 150 countries. There was a similar costly and disruptive attack called NotPetya a month later.
There was also a major six-hour outage in 2021 at Meta, which runs Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp – but that was largely contained to the social media giant and some linked partners.
The firm says it is"’ working around the clock" to provide "ongoing updates and support", with help from CrowdStrike.
The tech giant, which stresses that this was not an issue caused by its software, says the incident highlights how important it is for companies to "prioritise operating with safe deployment and disaster recovery using the mechanisms that exist".
How hackers could take advantage of IT outage
Whenever there is a major news event, especially one linked to technology, hackers respond by tweaking their existing methods to take into account the fear and uncertainty.
We saw the same with the COVID-19 pandemic when hackers adjusted their phishing email attacks to offer information about the virus and even pretended to have an antidote in order to hack people and organisations.
Because the IT outage has been a global news story we are seeing hackers capitalise.
According to researchers at Secureworks, there has already been a sharp rise in CrowdStrike-themed domain registrations – hackers registering new websites made to look official and potentially trick IT managers or members of the public into downloading malicious software or handing over private details.
The advice is mainly for IT managers who are the ones being affected by this as they try to get their organisations back online.
But individuals too might be targeted, so experts are warning to be cautious and only act on information from the official CrowdStrike channels.