Microsoft Clamps Down on Antivirus After Global Outage

Microsoft to Limit Antivirus Access in Windows Following Major Outage Following a recent incident where a faulty antivirus update crippled millions of computers, Microsoft is taking steps to restrict third-party software access to the Windows operating system's core. Just last week, a flawed update to CrowdStrike's Falcon antivirus software caused widespread outages, impacting 8.5 million computers globally. Airports, banks, and other critical institutions were forced to halt operations due to the malfunctioning software. While CrowdStrike attributed the issue to an error in a test build, the root of the problem lies in the software's deep system-level access. Falcon, like many other antivirus programs, operates within the operating system's kernel. This privileged access grants the software unrestricted control over system memory and hardware. Consequently, any issues within such software can have catastrophic consequences for the entire system, as witnessed on July 19…