Bad actors seizing on Microsoft IT outage to scam public, Clare O’Neil warns

Home affairs minister says small businesses should be cautious of emails from people posing as CrowdStrike or Microsoft

• What is CrowdStrike and how did it cause a global Windows outage?
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Scammers are attempting to use the global CrowdStrike outage on Microsoft Windows systems to steal from small businesses by offering fake fixes, the Australian government has warned.

The world has begun to recover from a global outage of Windows systems running the cybersecurity company Crowdstrike’s software, after the company issued a faulty update. But bad actors have seized upon the crisis to attempt to scam the public, the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, said on Saturday.

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