Incident: Tumblr Infrastructure Failure Leads to Unwanted Content Posting Incident

Published Date: 2013-08-21

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident on Tumblr occurred on Wednesday morning as per the article. 2. The article was published on 2013-08-21. 3. Therefore, the software failure incident on Tumblr happened on Wednesday morning, August 21, 2013.
System The system that failed in the software failure incident reported in Article 20803 was: 1. Tumblr infrastructure system - An infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes caused posts created in that window to become corrupt, leading to the appearance of unsanctioned content on users' blogs [20803].
Responsible Organization 1. The software failure incident on Tumblr was caused by an infrastructure failure that led to posts becoming corrupt, resulting in the appearance of unsanctioned content on users' blogs [20803].
Impacted Organization 1. Tumblr users who discovered unsanctioned content on their blogs [20803] 2. Followers of the affected blogs who were subject to seeing uninvited posts and graphic images in their dashboards [20803]
Software Causes 1. The software cause of the failure incident was an infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes that led posts created in this window to become corrupt, resulting in inconsistent behavior for affected blogs [20803].
Non-software Causes 1. Infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes [20803] 2. Bug affecting a small number of blogs [20803]
Impacts 1. Some Tumblr users discovered pornographic and unsanctioned content on their blogs, causing distress and embarrassment [20803]. 2. Users reported that images, quotes, and other content they did not post or share were appearing on their blogs, leading to concerns about privacy and control over their content [20803]. 3. The software failure caused posts created in a specific time window to become corrupt, resulting in inconsistent behavior for affected blogs and their followers [20803].
Preventions 1. Implementing robust security measures to prevent unauthorized access and hacking attempts [20803]. 2. Conducting thorough testing and quality assurance processes to catch any potential bugs or vulnerabilities before deployment [20803]. 3. Implementing monitoring systems to quickly detect and respond to any infrastructure failures or anomalies [20803].
Fixes 1. Implementing a fix for the infrastructure failure that caused the corruption of posts on Tumblr blogs [20803]. 2. Correcting the inconsistent behavior for the affected blogs by the engineering team at Tumblr [20803]. 3. Ensuring that the bug causing the issue is identified and resolved to prevent further unauthorized content from appearing on users' blogs [20803].
References 1. Tumblr users reporting the issue on their blogs [20803] 2. Tumblr spokesperson statement to CNET [20803] 3. Tumblr statement on Twitter [20803]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring one_organization (a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization: The incident mentioned in Article 20803 involving Tumblr users waking up to unsanctioned content on their blogs due to an infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes is an example of a software failure incident that happened within the same organization (Tumblr, which is owned by Yahoo). This incident caused posts to become corrupt and led to inconsistent behavior on affected blogs. The engineering team at Tumblr was working to correct the situation to address the issue [20803].
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident in the article was related to the design phase. The incident was caused by an infrastructure failure during a specific time window, leading to posts becoming corrupt and resulting in inconsistent behavior for affected blogs. This issue was attributed to a bug introduced during system development or updates, affecting a small number of blogs and causing uninvited posts and graphic images to appear [20803]. (b) The software failure incident was not related to the operation phase or misuse of the system.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident reported in the article was primarily within the system. The incident was attributed to an infrastructure failure within Tumblr's system, which caused posts created during that time to become corrupt. This internal issue led to inconsistent behavior on affected blogs, resulting in the appearance of unauthorized content such as pornographic or vulgar images [20803].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions, human_actions (a) The software failure incident on Tumblr was attributed to an infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes, which led to posts created in that window becoming corrupt. This issue was described as an "infrastructure failure" by a Tumblr spokesperson, indicating that it was a non-human action contributing to the failure [20803]. (b) Human actions were also involved in the response to the incident. Members suspected a hack and reported the unsanctioned content appearing on their blogs. Additionally, the engineering team at Tumblr was mentioned to be working quickly to correct the situation caused by the infrastructure failure, indicating human actions in addressing the issue [20803].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The software failure incident in the article was not attributed to hardware issues. Instead, it was mentioned that an infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes led to posts becoming corrupt, causing inconsistent behavior for affected blogs. This indicates that the contributing factors that originated in hardware were not the primary cause of the failure [20803]. (b) The software failure incident was primarily attributed to software issues. The article mentioned that an infrastructure failure caused posts to become corrupt, leading to inconsistent behavior for affected blogs. Additionally, the statement from a Tumblr spokesperson indicated that the issue was related to a bug that affected a small number of blogs, causing uninvited posts and graphic images to appear [20803].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident reported in Article 20803 was non-malicious. The incident was attributed to an infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes, which led to posts created in that window becoming corrupt. This resulted in unsanctioned content, including pornographic and vulgar images, appearing on Tumblr blogs. The Tumblr spokesperson mentioned that no data was lost, indicating that the issue was not caused by malicious intent but rather by a technical glitch [20803].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown (a) The software failure incident reported in Article 20803 was not due to poor decisions but rather an infrastructure failure that led to corrupt posts being created on Tumblr blogs. The incident was attributed to an infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes, causing inconsistent behavior for affected blogs. The issue affected a small number of blogs, and the engineering team was working quickly to correct the situation. No data was lost during the incident, indicating that it was not a result of poor decisions but rather a technical failure [20803].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) development_incompetence, accidental (a) The software failure incident in the article can be attributed to development incompetence. The incident was caused by an infrastructure failure lasting roughly 15 minutes, leading to posts created in that window becoming corrupt. This issue resulted in inconsistent behavior for affected blogs, with unauthorized content appearing on users' Tumblr blogs. The engineering team at Tumblr is working to correct the situation caused by this incompetence [20803]. (b) Additionally, the incident can also be categorized as accidental. The unauthorized content appearing on users' blogs, including pornographic and vulgar images, was not intentional but rather a result of the infrastructure failure. The nature of the bug caused followers of the affected blogs to also see the uninvited posts and graphic images, indicating an accidental introduction of these unwanted elements [20803].
Duration temporary The software failure incident reported in Article 20803 was temporary. The incident lasted roughly 15 minutes due to an infrastructure failure, leading to posts created in that window becoming corrupt. The Tumblr spokesperson mentioned that no data was lost, but the issue caused inconsistent behavior for the affected blogs. The engineering team was working quickly to correct the situation, indicating that it was a temporary failure [20803].
Behaviour crash (a) The software failure incident described in Article 20803 can be categorized as a crash. The incident led to posts created in a specific time window becoming corrupt, resulting in inconsistent behavior for affected blogs. This behavior aligns with a crash as the system lost its state and was not performing its intended functions properly [20803].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property (d) property: People's material goods, money, or data was impacted due to the software failure. The software failure incident on Tumblr led to unauthorized content, including pornographic or vulgar images, appearing on users' blogs. This content, which users did not post or share, could not be deleted at the time. As a result, users had to apologize to their followers for the offending material, indicating a direct impact on their online presence and reputation. Additionally, followers of the affected blogs were also subject to seeing the uninvited posts and graphic images in their dashboards, affecting their online experience and potentially causing distress [20803].
Domain information (a) The software failure incident reported in Article 20803 was related to the information industry. Tumblr users experienced a glitch where unauthorized content, including pornographic material, appeared on their blogs due to an infrastructure failure [20803].

Sources

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