How Zerodha Stayed Operational Amidst Microsoft Outage: Nithin Kamath’s Cybersecurity Insights

A Microsoft outage disrupted 8.5 million Windows devices, but Zerodha remained operational as its team uses Linux laptops. CEO Nithin Kamath highlighted the importance of cybersecurity, citing a recent major scam, and advised implementing two-factor authentication to mitigate cyber risks.

5 Key Points:

1. Widespread Impact of Microsoft Outage: The outage disrupted 8.5 million Windows devices, causing significant disruptions across various sectors, including banking and healthcare.
2. Zerodha’s Resilience: Zerodha remained operational during the crisis, with the majority of its team using Linux laptops, which were unaffected by the outage.
3. Nithin Kamath’s Statement: Nithin Kamath, CEO of Zerodha, highlighted on social media that almost all employees, including non-technical staff, use Linux laptops.
4. Cause of the Outage: The global disruption was triggered by an update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, leading to the “blue screen of death” error for many Windows users.
5. Cybersecurity Emphasis: Kamath emphasized the importance of cybersecurity, mentioning a recent scam affecting lakhs of Indians with losses amounting to ₹20,000 crore, and advocated for two-factor authentication (2FA) to reduce cyber fraud risks.