Most people don’t think twice about living in a world that is increasingly dependent on computer technology.

After all, the great advances in IT over the past decades have made virtually every aspect of our lives immeasurably easier, saving us time and money.

But it can be a double-edged sword. And yesterday we experienced the nightmarish chaos caused by a global cybersecurity outage – the largest in history.

A flaw in the company CloudStrike’s updated antivirus software caused computers running Microsoft Windows to crash.

It caused chaos all over the world. In Britain alone, flights were stuck on the runway and trains were brought to a standstill.

GP practices were unable to make appointments and had no access to patient records.

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Supermarkets could no longer accept card payments, forcing customers to use cash – or not buy food at all.

Schools and banking services were hit. Even CBBC, the children’s channel, was taken off the air. The meltdown will have caused enormous economic damage.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a cyberattack. By early afternoon, a reprimanded CrowdStrike had admitted the blunder.

But the fact that one tiny glitch in computer software can bring society from London to Sydney to a virtual standstill is a chilling warning of just how vulnerable our cyber systems really are.

It is a painful reminder of the fragility of the IT networks the world relies on – and the dangers of the all-powerful monopolies of giants like Microsoft.

Of course, this will have given hostile states and cyber terrorists a big heart. They could not have missed this weakness – and will seek to exploit it mercilessly.

When it comes to protecting our critical IT, there is no room for complacency.

Tough questions need to be asked. Are we using the most resilient systems? Are we too dependent on certain companies? The chaos also exposes the dangers of a cashless world.

Computers and broadband define our lives. If they fail catastrophically, our connected nation will be paralyzed.

Justice for eco-idiots

Hooray for Judge Christopher Hehir who handed down record prison sentences to five eco-anarchists who shut down the M25.

The self-righteous eccentrics at Just Stop Oil had “crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic,” he said. Exactly.

Their senior Labour supporters argue that the lengthy prison sentences are unjustified because the protesters are not violent criminals.

But the plan to shut down the highway endangered lives, blocked ambulances and caused serious disruption to their fellow citizens. They must expect to pay a high price for such reckless illegality.

Climate warriors routinely boast that they are willing to go to jail for their hysterical beliefs, and are surely satisfied that the courts have agreed.

Turn off profit

Despite his demanding job, Sir Keir Starmer says he will try to stop at 6pm on Fridays. He also doesn’t want anyone else to receive calls or emails outside of working hours.

Labour has come up with the eccentric idea of ​​giving workers a ‘legal right to switch off’ and banning employers from contacting them in the evenings, at weekends and on public holidays.

Sir Keir insists he wants to ‘unlock growth’, but this measure would do the opposite. It would further cripple businesses, leading to redundancies. Then those workers would have no jobs to walk away from.