About 8.5 million devices affected by Windows outage, CrowdStrike CEO apologizes

The global computer outage that caused many problems on Friday affected almost 8.5 million devices running Windows, less than one percent of the total, Microsoft announced in a blog post. The company acknowledges that because of the critical systems that were affected, the social and economic consequences were enormous.

"Although the percentage was small, the broad economic and societal impact shows that Crowdstrike is used by companies that provide critical services," Microsoft wrote.

An automatic update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike for Windows systems contained a flaw that left numerous computers unable to boot on Friday, causing problems for banks, airports, hospitals, and government organizations worldwide.

According to Microsoft, CrowdStrike has helped to quickly find a solution. Microsoft also worked with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform to determine the most effective approach.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz has apologized on behalf of his company for the outage. The Texas-based software company, which has nearly 30,000 customers and is one of the world's largest providers of security systems, lost 11 percent of its value on the New York stock exchange after the outage.