CrowdStrike has vowed to implement new checks to avoid a repeat of the global IT outage that hit millions of computers last week, as the cyber security company outlined the initial findings of its investigation into what went wrong.

Texas-based CrowdStrike said on Wednesday that the measures would include improvements to its internal testing, as the group seeks to prevent the kind of widespread disruption that hit industries from airlines to retailers caused by its faulty software update.

Microsoft has estimated that about 8.5mn Windows devices, which amounted to less than 1 per cent of all Windows machines, were hit by the faulty update, which grounded planes, interrupted hospital appointments and took broadcasters off air around the world.