| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization:
The BBC has experienced similar incidents before. In 2011, the broadcaster's bbc.co.uk domain went offline for an hour due to technical problems [57080]. Additionally, in 2014, the iPlayer was offline for almost a whole weekend due to a database fault [57080].
(b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization:
There is no specific mention in the provided article about similar incidents happening at other organizations. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident in the BBC outage can be attributed to the design phase. The incident was initially reported as a technical issue, with sources within the organization mentioning it was a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. However, the BBC press office refrained from confirming the cause and simply referred to it as a "technical issue" [57080].
(b) The software failure incident can also be linked to the operation phase. Users started complaining about issues with the BBC iPlayer and website, indicating problems with the operation or use of the system. The outage affected various digital services provided by the bbc.co.uk domain, leading to the website showing error pages and parts of it intermittently loading or completely offline [57080]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system, outside_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident reported in the article was initially attributed to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which is a type of cyberattack that overwhelms a website with traffic originating from outside the system, causing it to go offline [57080]. However, the BBC press office referred to the incident as a "technical issue" without providing further details on the cause, indicating that there may have been internal system issues contributing to the outage as well. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was attributed to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which is a non-human action. The BBC reported that sources within the organization indicated it was a DDoS attack, overwhelming the website with traffic and taking it offline [57080].
(b) On the other hand, the BBC press office referred to the incident as a "technical issue" and did not provide further details on the cause, indicating a human action could also be a contributing factor to the failure [57080]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware:
- The BBC experienced an intermittent internet services outage that took down its website, the BBC iPlayer, and all other digital services provided by the bbc.co.uk domain [57080].
- The outage was initially reported as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which is a type of cyberattack that overwhelms a website with traffic [57080].
- The BBC press office referred to the incident as a "technical issue" without providing further details on the cause of the outage [57080].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to software:
- The BBC press office mentioned that the outage was a "technical issue" without specifying the exact cause [57080].
- In previous incidents, the BBC had faced software-related issues such as cyberattacks in 2012 and a database fault in 2014 that caused the iPlayer to be offline for almost a whole weekend [57080]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident reported in Article 57080 was malicious in nature. The incident was identified as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the BBC's website and digital services. The attack overwhelmed the website with traffic, preventing legitimate users from accessing the services. The BBC initially reported it as a technical issue but sources within the organization confirmed it was a DDoS attack, which is a deliberate attempt to disrupt services and harm the system [57080].
(b) There is no information in the articles to suggest that the software failure incident was non-malicious. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
accidental_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident at the BBC, which resulted in an outage of its website and digital services, was initially reported as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. However, the BBC press office referred to it as a "technical issue" and did not provide further details on the cause of the outage [57080].
(b) The incident could also be seen as an accidental decision, as the BBC press office downplayed the incident as a "technical issue" without explicitly confirming it as a DDoS attack. This lack of transparency or clarity in communication could be considered an unintended decision that contributed to the confusion surrounding the nature of the outage [57080]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
unknown |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article. The outage experienced by the BBC's website, iPlayer, and other digital services was attributed to a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which is an intentional act to overwhelm a website with traffic [57080]. The BBC press office referred to the incident as a "technical issue" without providing further details on the cause [57080].
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is not explicitly mentioned in the provided article. The outage experienced by the BBC's digital services was primarily attributed to a DDoS attack, which is a deliberate and malicious act rather than an accidental occurrence [57080]. The article does not provide information suggesting that the incident was accidental in nature. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in Article 57080 was temporary. The BBC website, iPlayer, and other digital services provided by the bbc.co.uk domain experienced an intermittent internet services outage. Users started complaining about the issues in the early hours of the morning, and the website was showing 500 error code pages with some parts intermittently loading and others completely offline. The services were restored and operating normally shortly before 11 am on the same day. The BBC initially reported it as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack but later referred to it as a "technical issue" without providing further details on the cause of the outage [57080]. |
| Behaviour |
crash, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the BBC article can be categorized as a crash. The incident resulted in the BBC website, iPlayer, and other digital services provided by the bbc.co.uk domain going down, showing 500 error code pages, and being intermittently offline before coming back online [57080].
(b) omission: There is no specific mention of the software failure incident being caused by the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s) in the articles.
(c) timing: The software failure incident did not involve the system performing its intended functions correctly but too late or too early.
(d) value: The software failure incident did not involve the system performing its intended functions incorrectly.
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident did not involve the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions.
(f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident in the BBC article can be categorized as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, which overwhelmed the website with traffic, preventing legitimate users from accessing the services [57080]. |