In the wake of the CrowdStrike outage that brought the internet to its knees, Microsoft is hosting an event aimed at ensuring such an incident never happens again.

CrowdStrike effectively bricked millions of Windows PCs when it pushed a flawed update, one that required physical access to a machine to roll back. While physical access is not a problem for desktop machines, it can pose a much bigger challenge for cloud companies and server farms.

The CrowdStrike incident was so devastating largely because the cybersecurity firm’s software runs at the kernel level, or the lowest level of the Windows operating system. Microsoft has already voiced its dissatisfaction with the situation, blaming an agreement with the EU for the current status quo, in which third-party companies have the same low-level access to Windows’ internals as Microsoft.

According to Aidan Marcuss, Microsoft Windows and Devices VP, Microsoft wants to improve the situation, and is hosting an event at its Redmond, Washington headquarters on September 10. CrowdStrike, as well as other “key partners” will be in attendance, with the goal being to find ways of securing Windows and improving resiliency.

On Sept. 10, 2024, Microsoft will host a Windows Endpoint Security Ecosystem Summit at our Redmond, Washington, headquarters. Microsoft, CrowdStrike and key partners who deliver endpoint security technologies will come together for discussions about improving resiliency and protecting mutual customers’ critical infrastructure. Our objective is to discuss concrete steps we will all take to improve security and resiliency for our joint customers.

The CrowdStrike outage in July 2024 presents important lessons for us to apply as an ecosystem. Our discussions will focus on improving security and safe deployment practices, designing systems for resiliency and working together as a thriving community of partners to best serve customers now, and in the future.

Microsoft says government representatives will also be in attendance.

In addition to ecosystem partners, Microsoft will invite government representatives to ensure the highest level of transparency to the community’s collaboration to deliver more secure and reliable technology for all. It is expected that the Windows Endpoint Security Ecosystem Summit will lead to next steps in both short- and long-term actions and initiatives to pursue, with improved security and resilience as our collective goal. We will share further updates on these conversations following the event.

Hopefully Microsoft and its partners are able to find ways of improving Window’s security, while also protecting the OS from CrowdStrike-style blunders.