| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to financial errors in the US Army's accounting systems, as reported in Article 46656, indicates that similar incidents have happened before within the same organization. The audit conducted by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General highlighted unreliable data used in preparing financial statements, leading to the possibility of the Army’s finances being materially misstated. The report also mentioned that more than 16,000 files vanished from the computer system of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) due to a flaw in the computing software, contributing to the errors.
(b) The software failure incident related to financial errors in the US Army's accounting systems, as reported in Article 46656, does not explicitly mention similar incidents happening at other organizations. The focus of the article is primarily on the Army's accounting errors and the challenges faced in conducting a complete audit. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be attributed to the glitches in the systems that partly caused the mistakes. The Inspector General largely attributed the errors to Defense Department accounting employees failing to prioritize fixing the glitches in the systems that partly caused the mistakes [46656].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase can be linked to more than 16,000 files vanishing from the computer system of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) because of a flaw in the computing software. This flaw in the computing software led to the disappearance of a significant number of files, impacting the operation of the system [46656]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
The software failure incident reported in Article 46656 involves financial errors within the system. The audit conducted by the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General found that the Army made trillions of dollars of accounting mistakes due to unreliable data used to prepare financial statements, leading to the possibility of materially misstated finances. The errors were largely attributed to Defense Department accounting employees failing to prioritize fixing glitches in the systems that caused the mistakes. Additionally, more than 16,000 files vanished from the computer system of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) due to a flaw in the computing software [46656]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was attributed to non-human actions, specifically a flaw in the computing software that caused more than 16,000 files to vanish from the computer system of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) [46656]. This flaw in the software contributed to the accounting errors and financial discrepancies reported in the audit. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware, software |
(a) The software failure incident related to hardware:
The article mentions that more than 16,000 files vanished from the computer system of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) due to a flaw in the computing software [46656].
(b) The software failure incident related to software:
The audit conducted by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General found that the Army erroneously made $2.8 trillion in adjustments in the third quarter of 2015 to its Army general fund due to unreliable data used to prepare financial statements, indicating software-related issues [46656]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident in this case does not seem to be malicious. The errors in the Army's accounting were largely attributed to glitches in the systems and a flaw in the computing software, as mentioned in the audit report by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General [46656].
(b) The software failure incident appears to be non-malicious, as there is no indication in the article that the errors were intentionally introduced to harm the system. The audit report highlighted unreliable data, glitches in the systems, and a flaw in the computing software as contributing factors to the financial errors [46656]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
unknown |
The articles do not provide specific information about a software failure incident related to poor decisions or accidental decisions. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the article as it mentions that more than 16,000 files vanished from the computer system of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) due to a flaw in the computing software. This flaw in the software, which caused files to disappear, can be attributed to a lack of professional competence in the development or maintenance of the software system [46656].
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is also highlighted in the article when it mentions that the errors in the accounting systems were partly caused by glitches that were not prioritized for fixing by Defense Department accounting employees. This indicates that the mistakes were introduced accidentally due to negligence or oversight in addressing known issues in the software systems [46656]. |
| Duration |
unknown |
The software failure incident reported in Article 46656 does not specifically mention a temporary or permanent nature of the failure. The article primarily focuses on financial errors and accounting mistakes within the US Army, highlighting issues with data reliability, accounting systems, and missing files in the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's computer system. Therefore, based on the information provided in the article, it is unknown whether the software failure incident was temporary or permanent. |
| Behaviour |
crash, value |
(a) crash: The article mentions that more than 16,000 files vanished from the computer system of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) due to a flaw in the computing software, indicating a system crash [46656].
(b) omission: The article highlights that the Army often did not have the receipts or invoices needed to support figures in its budget, suggesting an omission of necessary documentation [46656].
(c) timing: The article does not specifically mention any timing-related failures.
(d) value: The audit found that the Army erroneously made adjustments totaling trillions of dollars, indicating a failure in performing its intended functions correctly [46656].
(e) byzantine: The article does not mention any inconsistent responses or interactions related to the software failure incident.
(f) other: The article does not provide information on any other specific behavior of the software failure incident. |