Why China Was Not Affected By Friday’s IT Crash

While businesses in the US and Europe awoke on Friday to a global IT meltdown that shut down administrations, airports, and hotels, China entered its weekend largely unaffected.

KEY FACTS

The problem turned out to have come from a software update from Texas-based cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which generates more than half of its revenue from the United States. The company’s technology is used by many of the world’s largest banks, healthcare and energy companies.
“The impact of Friday’s incident on China was very small, with almost no impact on local public life,” said Gao Feng, senior research director at Gartner. “Only some foreign companies in China were affected.”
“The main reason is that domestic Chinese companies do not use CrowdStrike products, so they are not affected,” Gao said. “CrowdStrike’s customers are mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States.”
Anecdotally, ride-hailing services, e-commerce and other internet-related systems in China were running smoothly on Friday. Chinese state media also said Friday evening that international flights at Beijing’s two airports were operating normally and that Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines were not affected by large-scale technical system failures.
One of the most notable impacts of the IT outage – including in China – was on Microsoft Windows devices trying to integrate an update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon product, resulting in a blue screen and computer reboot cycle.
Microsoft products are widely used in China, with Windows accounting for about 87 percent of PC shipments on the mainland last year, according to Canalys. This is higher than the share of 79% for the rest of the world in the first quarter of this year.
Microsoft Office 365 products and the Azure cloud service are operated in China by a local company called 21Vianet. It is not yet clear whether localization contributed to the limited impact of Friday’s crash.

WHY AREN’T CHINESE COMPANIES USING CROWDSTRIKE?

In recent years, the US and Chinese governments have forced domestic companies to use proprietary technology and store data locally for national security reasons.

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Canalys pointed out that the Chinese-made UOS, or Unity operating system, has seen growing adoption among state-owned enterprises and government sectors, although Windows still dominates the domestic PC market.

“There is very little impact because CrowdStrike is hardly used in China,” said Rich Bishop, CEO of AppInChina, which publishes international software in China.

“That’s partly because many of the security threats that CrowdStrike is designed to protect against come from China,” he said, adding that Chinese companies typically use products from Tencent, 360 and other businesses.

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Cyberattacks On Governments, Infrastructure And Businesses Shape 2026

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

June 8, 2026

Cybersecurity has become an increasingly prominent issue in 2026 as cyber incidents continue to affect governments, businesses and critical infrastructure worldwide. Recent attacks have targeted sectors ranging from healthcare and education to energy and public administration, highlighting the growing impact of cyber threats on economic activity and national security.

Questions Remain Over DOGE’s Access To Social Security Data

More than a year after individuals linked to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) gained access to systems at the Social Security Administration, questions remain about how sensitive data was handled. Court proceedings are ongoing following allegations that a copy of the Social Security database was transferred to an external server, potentially exposing personal information belonging to millions of Americans.

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According to legal filings, the Social Security Administration has acknowledged uncertainty regarding the contents of the server. Lawmakers have warned that, if confirmed, the incident could rank among the largest data breaches involving government records in U.S. history.

Hackers Increasingly Target Water Systems And Energy Grids

Cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure have continued across Europe, including incidents affecting energy networks and water systems. Authorities in Poland, Sweden and Norway have reported attacks linked to groups believed to be acting in support of Russian interests. At the same time, tensions in the Middle East have heightened concerns about cyber threats to critical infrastructure, particularly privately operated utilities with limited cybersecurity resources.

Iranian Government Hackers Target Stryker

In March, Iranian hackers reportedly carried out a cyberattack against medical technology company Stryker, wiping thousands of employee devices. The incident, attributed to a group linked to Iranian intelligence, disrupted operations and affected the company’s first-quarter financial performance.

Instructure Among Shinyhunters’ Disruptive Hacking Campaigns

The hacking group ShinyHunters has continued to rely on voice phishing techniques to gain access to corporate networks. One of the most prominent incidents involved education technology company Instructure, whose Canvas learning management platform was breached.

The attack exposed personal information belonging to more than 30 million users and disrupted academic schedules during examination periods. Other reported victims include Charter, Carnival and organisations operating in the finance and public sectors.

Supply Chain Attacks Continue To Target Technology Companies

Software supply chains have remained a major target for cybercriminals. Security researchers have linked a series of attacks to compromises involving tools and platforms used by software developers, including Aqua Security’s Trivy, Bitwarden and Checkmarx. Such incidents can have wider consequences across the technology industry because compromised software updates may provide attackers with access to credentials and internal systems.

FBI Reports Major Cyber Incident

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was compelled to declare a “major cyber incident” in April after one of its surveillance systems was breached by actors believed to be linked to Chinese intelligence. This breach, which reportedly exposed the phone numbers of individuals under surveillance, has raised serious concerns about national security and the integrity of federal surveillance operations.

Hasbro Faces Operational Disruptions Following Cyberattack

Toy manufacturer Hasbro experienced weeks of operational disruption after detecting a cyberattack in late March. The company reported website outages and other operational challenges before confirming in May that the attackers had been removed from affected systems. Regulatory filing delays and other business impacts are expected to continue in the near term.

Millions Of Identity Documents Exposed

Several data exposure incidents reported during the year affected systems used for identity verification and customer onboarding. Cases involving a hotel check-in platform, a money transfer service, a prison communications provider and a UK visa portal exposed passports, driver’s licences and other identification documents belonging to more than two million people. The incidents have raised concerns about the security of personal information collected as part of identity verification requirements.

Growing Focus On Cybersecurity

The incidents reported throughout 2026 demonstrate the increasing impact of cyber threats across both public and private sectors. As organisations continue investing in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity remains a central concern for governments, businesses and critical service providers.

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