| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident has happened again at one_organization:
- Ladbrokes experienced a long-standing "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets, leading customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed [79388].
- Ladbrokes had reached out-of-court settlements with at least four punters who experienced the same problem and sued for payment [79388].
(b) The software failure incident has happened again at multiple_organization:
- There is no specific mention in the provided article about similar incidents happening at other organizations or with their products and services. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was primarily attributed to a long-standing "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets. This glitch led customers to believe that their bets had been accepted when they had not actually been placed, and no stakes were taken. Ladbrokes admitted that the issue was identified through a thorough technical investigation, indicating a failure in the design phase of the software [79388].
(b) The operation of the system also played a role in the software failure incident. Customers were impacted by the glitch when they attempted to place bets, which were then referred to Ladbrokes' trading department for approval. The bets appeared to have been accepted, with the account balance debited, but were later listed as "cancelled." This operation-related issue contributed to customer confusion and dissatisfaction, highlighting a failure in the operation phase of the system [79388]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was attributed to a long-standing "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets. Ladbrokes admitted that a specific issue in the automated bet referral process led a small number of customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not actually been placed, and no stakes were taken. This glitch originated within the system and impacted both winning and losing bets [79388].
(b) outside_system: The article does not provide information indicating that the software failure incident at Ladbrokes was caused by contributing factors originating from outside the system. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was primarily attributed to a "technical glitch" in the software for processing online bets, which led customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed and no stakes were taken. This glitch was identified as a non-human action, specifically a result of a flaw in the automated bet referral process [79388].
(b) Human actions were also involved in the incident as Ladbrokes had to make payments to customers as a gesture of goodwill due to the issue. Additionally, the firm declined to confirm the number of affected clients, the amount of money to be paid out, and why it took a year to admit to the problem, indicating potential human decision-making and communication issues in handling the software failure incident [79388]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was primarily attributed to a "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets, which led customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed and no stakes were taken. This glitch in the software was the root cause of the issue, indicating a failure originating in the software itself [79388].
(b) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was specifically identified as a "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets. This glitch in the software led to customers mistakenly believing their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed, highlighting a failure originating in the software [79388]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was non-malicious. Ladbrokes admitted that a long-standing "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets led customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed, and no stakes were taken [79388].
This incident was attributed to a technical issue in the automated bet referral process, which, under specific and rare circumstances, misled a small number of customers into thinking their bets had been accepted when they were not actually placed. The statement from Ladbrokes clarified that no funds were ever deducted from customers' accounts for these proposed bets, and the issue impacted both winning and losing bets. The company identified and resolved the technical glitch, apologizing to affected customers and ensuring that any winnings due on impacted bets would be paid out [79388]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was primarily due to poor decisions made by the company. Ladbrokes admitted that a long-standing "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets led customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed, and no stakes were taken [79388]. The firm took a year to admit to the problem and declined to confirm the number of affected clients or the amount of money that would be paid out. Additionally, Ladbrokes had reached out-of-court settlements with punters who experienced the same problem and sued for payment, indicating a lack of proactive resolution of the issue [79388]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes was primarily attributed to a "technical glitch" in its software for processing online bets. Ladbrokes admitted that this glitch led customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed, and no stakes were taken [79388].
(b) The incident at Ladbrokes was not described as accidental in the articles. The failure was explicitly linked to a technical glitch in the software for processing online bets, indicating a specific issue within the system rather than an accidental occurrence. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident at Ladbrokes involving a "technical glitch" in processing online bets was not permanent. It was a temporary failure that occurred due to a very specific and rare set of circumstances. Ladbrokes identified that a small number of customers over a period of time may have been led to believe that their bets had been accepted when they had not been placed and no stakes were taken [79388]. The issue impacted both winning and losing bets, but no funds were ever deducted from a customer's account in respect of the proposed bets. Ladbrokes stated that they have now resolved the technical glitch and have identified all the customers who may have been impacted by the issue [79388]. |
| Behaviour |
omission, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the Ladbrokes case did not involve a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions. Instead, the issue was related to bets not being placed even though customers believed they had been accepted [79388].
(b) omission: The software failure incident can be categorized as an omission where the system omitted to perform its intended functions at instances. Customers were led to believe that their bets had been accepted when in fact they had not been placed and no stakes were taken. This led to confusion and disputes with customers who had winning bets that were initially claimed to be "cancelled" [79388].
(c) timing: The software failure incident was not related to timing issues where the system performs its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. Instead, the issue was more about the system not executing the bet placements as expected, leading to customer misunderstandings and disputes [79388].
(d) value: The software failure incident can be classified as a value issue where the system performed its intended functions incorrectly. Customers' bets were not placed as expected, causing discrepancies in account balances and disputes over winnings. For example, a customer's account balance was reduced following an attempt to submit a bet, even though the bet was not actually placed [79388].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident did not exhibit characteristics of a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. The issue primarily revolved around the incorrect processing of bets, leading to customer confusion and disputes over the outcomes of their wagers [79388].
(f) other: The software failure incident in the Ladbrokes case can be categorized as a case of a technical glitch in the software for processing online bets. This glitch led customers to believe their bets had been accepted when they had not actually been placed, causing confusion and disputes over winnings. The incident involved a specific and rare set of circumstances that resulted in a small number of customers being impacted by the issue [79388]. |