Hanging by a thread

LAST Friday, the world experienced a modest catastrophe when a faulty software update from the US-based cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike crashed about 8.5 million Windows-based computer systems. The Philippines seemed to escape the worst of it, although there were problems here; numerous flight delays and cancellations left thousands stranded at the airport, and several of the country's largest banks lost most of their online services for a considerable length of time.

Elsewhere, particularly in the US and Europe, the incident was apparently a nightmare. Airports and airlines were the worst affected; at one point, American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Airlines, the three largest airlines in the world by fleet size, ordered a ground stop for all their planes. There were also reports of many banks, digital payment systems, retailers being knocked offline, and more worryingly, hospitals and emergency services such as 911 lines in some places.