Malaysia asks Microsoft, CrowdStrike to consider covering losses from global outage

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's digital minister said on Wednesday he has asked global tech firms Microsoft and CrowdStrike to consider compensating companies that suffered losses during last week's global tech outage.

A faulty update to CrowdStrike's security software crashed computers powered by Microsoft's Windows operating system on Friday, disrupting internet services across the globe and affecting a broad range of industries.

Five government agencies and nine companies operating in aviation, banking and healthcare were among those affected in Malaysia, minister Gobind Singh Deo told reporters.

Gobind said he had met with representatives from Microsoft and CrowdStrike to seek a full report on the incident and ask the firms to take steps to avoid a repeat outage.

"If there are any damages or losses, where there have been any parties that have made such claims, I've asked them to consider those claims and see to what extent they are able to help resolve the issue," Gobind said, adding that the government would also assist on the claims where possible.

The total amount of losses incurred has not yet been determined, he said.

On Tuesday, the chief executive of Malaysia's Capital A, the operator of budget carrier AirAsia, said airlines affected by the IT outage deserved compensation for losses, media reported.

"The principle is that if we do something wrong, we have to compensate. We, other airlines, and other businesses lost a lot.

"They should offer us compensation, and right now, we have to wait and see," Tony Fernandes was quoted as saying by state news agency Bernama.

(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff)