Fortune 500 companies, excluding Microsoft, are expected to incur $5.4 billion in financial losses due to the recent tech outage caused by CrowdStrike’s faulty software update, insurer Parametrix announced on Wednesday.
The outage, resulting from a flawed update to CrowdStrike’s security software, led to crashes of computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. This disruption affected various industries globally, including airlines, banking, and healthcare.
Parametrix estimated that insured losses from the incident would range between $540 million and $1.08 billion for the affected Fortune 500 companies. Despite the impact, major cyber insurer Beazley stated it had no plans to revise its guidance on its combined ratio, a crucial indicator of underwriting profitability, following the mass IT outage.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings agency suggested that the global insurance and reinsurance industry would likely avoid substantial financial repercussions from the event.
In response to the widespread disruption, Malaysia’s digital minister has called on global tech firms Microsoft and CrowdStrike to consider compensating companies that suffered losses during the outage.
