Tightly coupled systems are making our power grid, our supply chains, and our digital networks more prone to hair-trigger breakdowns. The problem is compounded when many different organizations rely on the same software or hardware. Most of the world’s businesses use the Windows operating system. And a large share of those rely on CrowdStrike software to protect them from hackers. That’s convenient for everyone. But the ubiquity of the Windows operating system is precisely what made so many networks vulnerable to hidden flaws in a routine software update. If our software platforms were more varied, no single problem would be as likely to take out a huge chunk of the world’s computers at once.
Read all of the essay by James B. Meigs in Commentary magazine.
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