Global IT outage is a warning shot about dangers that will only get worse

It appears the problem that saw flights cancelled, banking payment systems go down, and GPs surgeries, pharmacies, train companies and shops all affected stemmed from a software bug. But with criminals and some state actors spreading computer viruses, the internet is under near-constant attack.

George Kurtz, chief executive of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, said he was "deeply sorry" for the incident, which apparently happened because of a bug in a new update for its program for Microsoft Windows PCs. "Software is a very complex world and there's a lot of interactions,” he added, “and always staying ahead of the adversary is a tall task."

That being the case, it makes sense for those with a critical need to access information usually stored online to have a back-up in case a problem occurs – even if that back-up is old-fashioned paper. Not everyone can afford to have two entirely separate computer systems.

This was not a cyberattack, but it could have been. As a nation, we need to get better at cybersecurity, both to defeat organised crime gangs, and also as part of our national defence. If the UK ever finds itself in a major war, our ability to access the internet would be a target for the enemy.

The internet and computers are now so embedded in our daily lives that many people hardly know what to do if they are unable to get online. So, as the threats to these vital systems become greater, we need to learn how to make them, and also society as a whole, more resilient.

If one bug in a single program could cause a global outage of such extraordinary scale, what would happen if there were multiple problems? Our political leaders need to make sure the country will not completely grind to a halt in the event of an even bigger crisis.