Opinion: CrowdStrike outage shows the danger of depending on Big Tech overlords

A routine software update caused a record-breaking freeze across much of the world, with ripple effects for days afterward.

CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity vendor deployed by Microsoft systems, installed an update on July 18 that analysts say probably skipped quality testing. The result disabled an estimated 8.5 million computers in perhaps the largest cyber event in history.

Affected were Microsoft-powered systems critical to the online operations of banks, hospitals, police forces...