Crashes and Competition

Kernel-level access, not the update alone, is the root cause of last week's CrowdStrike failure that crashed millions of Windows machines. CrowdStrike released a faulty sensor configuration update on July 19, 2024, and because its software runs in kernel space, the bug crashed entire computers, with Microsoft estimating 8 million affected. Apple and Linux were not impacted because both have locked third-party software out of kernel space. A Microsoft spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that the company cannot wall off Windows the same way, citing a 2009 understanding with the European Commission that gives security makers the same access Microsoft has.