The industry event in September will discuss the best ways to improve Windows’ security and avoid another computer crash.

Microsoft announced it will host a special conference in September to discuss the lessons and security measures the industry can take away from the CrowdStrike computer shutdown in July. The Windows Endpoint Security Ecosystem Summit is scheduled for September 10 at Microsoft’s Redmond, WA headquarters.

The event will feature representatives from Microsoft, CrowdStrike and other cyber and computer security companies. The participants will explore changes in industry practices and the use of applications that can prevent future computer shutdowns.

An executive who spoke to CNBC anonymously says one of the talking points of the conference will address the use of applications that rely more on Windows’ user mode instead of kernel mode. The July outage occurred because Crowdstrike’s agent operated in kernel mode in which the central processing unit gives software total access to a system’s resources and hardware. Applications in user mode are more isolated so they can’t bring down other systems.

The attendees will also discuss implementing eBPF technology into systems to check programs without triggering system wide crashes. The conference will also feature discussions on the use of safer programming languages such as Rust, an alternative to programming languages such as C or C++.

CrowdStrike blamed faulty testing software included in an update as the cause of the crash that shut down 8.5 million Windows machines starting on July 19. The shutdown causes blue screens of death for systems for banks, airlines and businesses around the world.

Source:
courtesy of ENGADGET

by Danny Gallagher

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