The largest IT outage in history has revealed just how vulnerable global systems truly are, though China managed to – mostly- avoid the digital catastrophe.
The reason why? China’s IT infrastructure isn’t reliant on Microsoft or any other major Western entity, and has been steadily building out a parallel network referred to as the “splinternet”.
The CrowdStrike outage unleashed total chaos around the globe, shutting down Windows-based systems worldwide. This is estimated to have affected 8.5 million devices globally.
The event saw the “blue screen of death” appearing on the digital billboards that color New York Times Square, multiple Airports and flight information screens, and even the Hong Kong stock exchange.
However, for the most part, China’s mainland systems were unaffected. This was largely thanks to their ongoing efforts to reduce their reliance on Western technology giants. Speaking with the BBC , Josh Kennedy-White, a Singapore-based cybersecurity expert, explained:
“Microsoft operates in China through a local partner, 21Vianet, which manages its services independently of its global infrastructure. This setup insulates China’s essential services – like banking and aviation – from global disruptions.”
In a South China Morning Post (SCMP) report , a Chinese government employee highlighted that Microsoft’s “minimal impact” on domestic infrastructure is proof that China has made huge progress in its aims of establishing “safe and controllable” IT systems.
Though the Internet was poised to unify humanity under the digital banner of free information, it would seem that it has failed to bridge the gap between the East and West.
As a result, China’s ongoing efforts to isolate itself from the global Internet has resulted in the creation of the “Splinternet “. Arguably, China’s Great Firewall, which blocks access to the broader internet, imposes government censorship and pushes propaganda on its users.
Research from Oracle finds that China’s Internet is effectively an intranet, capable of operating even if the global network fails. The ‘essential’ Western services such as Google search, maps, and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are entirely banned in China.
This extends itself to their reliance on Microsoft technologies, which kept its IT infrastructure safe throughout the CrowdStrike outage.
As political and economic divides between East and Western civilization continue to grow, digital barricades have emerged to widen the gap between these digital spheres.
The ‘open internet’ that the West is accustomed to keeps liberal democracies occupied with safeguarding the global, open internet despite the swathes of misinformation and mishandling of digital technologies.
Meanwhile, other nations such as China prefer a more centralized model, with an autocratic regime where the flow of information can be controlled instead of influenced.
It’s safe to assume that the Chinese version of the Internet will be ideologically distinct and that China would prefer to maintain centralized governance and incorporate values that are largely incompatible with our own.