| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to leaking user contact information on Instagram's website has happened again within the same organization. The incident involved the exposure of contact information for thousands of Instagram accounts, including phone numbers and email addresses, due to the information being included in the website's source code [85523]. This incident was discovered by a data scientist and business consultant, David Stier, who reported the problem to Instagram in February, and it was fixed in March. The exposure of sensitive information due to programming errors highlights the risks associated with such incidents [85523].
(b) There is no specific information in the provided article about a similar incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the Instagram incident where user contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, was leaked due to a flaw in the website's source code. The contact information was inadvertently included in the source code, making it accessible to anyone who could scrape the data from the website [85523].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase can be observed in the same Instagram incident where a marketing company in India, Chtrbox, obtained contact information for millions of Instagram accounts and stored it on an unsecured database. This unauthorized access to user contact information was a result of the operation or misuse of the system, violating Instagram's policies and leading to the revocation of Chtrbox's access to the platform [85523]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system, outside_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily within the system. The exposure of user contact information on Instagram's website was due to the inclusion of such information in the website's source code, which was a programming error within Instagram's system. The contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, was inadvertently leaked and could be accessed by scraping the data from the website's source code [85523].
(b) outside_system: Additionally, there is an aspect of the failure that involves factors originating from outside the system. For instance, a marketing company in India, Chtrbox, was reported to have obtained contact information for millions of Instagram accounts and stored it on an unsecured database. This external entity accessed some of the contact information from users' profiles in violation of Instagram policies, leading Instagram to revoke Chtrbox's access to its platform [85523]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions:
The software failure incident in this case was primarily due to a programming error where the source code for some Instagram user profiles included the account holder's contact information whenever it loaded in a web browser. This exposure allowed hackers to potentially scrape the data from the Instagram website, leading to the leak of contact information for thousands of accounts [85523].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
The incident also involved human actions as a marketing company in India, Chtrbox, obtained contact information for millions of Instagram accounts and stored it on an unsecured database. This action violated Instagram policies, leading Instagram to revoke Chtrbox's access to its platform [85523]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident related to hardware: The incident reported in the article [85523] does not indicate any hardware-related failure. The issue primarily stemmed from a programming error in the software code of Instagram's website, which led to the exposure of user contact information.
(b) The software failure incident related to software: The software failure incident reported in the article [85523] was primarily due to contributing factors originating in software. The exposure of user contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, was a result of the contact information being included in the website's source code. This software flaw allowed hackers to potentially scrape the data from the Instagram website, leading to privacy concerns and violations of Instagram's policies. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious, non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to the exposure of user contact information on Instagram's website can be categorized as a non-malicious failure. The incident occurred due to a programming error where the contact information of Instagram users, including phone numbers and email addresses, was inadvertently included in the website's source code [85523]. This exposure was not intentional, and the data was not private but rather information that Instagram users chose to share when converting their profiles to Business Profiles [85523]. The issue was discovered by a data scientist and business consultant who reported it to Instagram, leading to the problem being fixed in March [85523].
(b) On the other hand, the incident also involved a malicious aspect where a marketing company in India, Chtrbox, obtained contact information for millions of Instagram accounts and stored it on an unsecured database, which was against Instagram's terms of use [85523]. This unauthorized access to user contact information by Chtrbox led Instagram to revoke their access to the platform [85523]. This aspect of the incident involved a violation of Instagram policies and could be considered a malicious action on the part of the marketing company. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident related to the exposure of user contact information on Instagram's website can be attributed to poor_decisions. The incident occurred because the source code for some Instagram user profiles included the account holder's contact information whenever it loaded in a web browser, even though this information was not meant to be displayed on the desktop version of the website [85523]. This poor decision to include contact information in the source code made it vulnerable to scraping by hackers, leading to the exposure of sensitive data belonging to thousands of Instagram users, including minors and businesses. Additionally, the incident highlighted the risk of programming errors that can easily expose sensitive information on the web, emphasizing the importance of making sound decisions in software development to protect user data. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence can be seen in the case of Instagram leaking user contact information on their website. The incident occurred due to a programming error where the source code for some Instagram user profiles included contact information whenever it loaded in a web browser. This exposure allowed hackers to scrape data from the website, potentially leading to the creation of a virtual phone book with thousands of users' contact details [85523].
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors can be observed in the case of Instagram inadvertently including contact information in the website's source code. Instagram spokeswoman Stephanie Otway mentioned that the contact information found in the source code was not private but rather information that members of the Instagram community chose to share when converting their profiles to Business Profiles. This accidental inclusion of contact information in the source code could have led to the exposure of sensitive data to potential hackers [85523]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was temporary. The incident where Instagram's website leaked user contact information, including phone numbers and email addresses, lasted for at least four months before being discovered and reported by David Stier [Article 85523]. The issue was fixed in March after being reported in February, indicating that the failure was not permanent but rather temporary in nature. |
| Behaviour |
other |
(a) crash: The incident reported in the article does not involve a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions. Instead, the issue was related to the exposure of user contact information on Instagram's website and app [Article 85523].
(b) omission: The incident does not involve a failure due to the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). The issue was related to the inclusion of contact information in the source code of Instagram's website and the unauthorized access to this data by a marketing company [Article 85523].
(c) timing: The incident is not related to a failure due to the system performing its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. The main issue was the exposure of user contact information on Instagram's website and app, leading to potential privacy risks for users [Article 85523].
(d) value: The failure in this incident is not due to the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. Instead, the problem was the inclusion of contact information in the source code of Instagram's website, which could be accessed by unauthorized parties [Article 85523].
(e) byzantine: The incident does not involve a failure due to the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. The main issue was the exposure of user contact information on Instagram's website and app, potentially allowing hackers to scrape data from the platform [Article 85523].
(f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident in this case can be categorized as a data exposure incident. The incident involved the inadvertent inclusion of user contact information in the source code of Instagram's website, which could be accessed by unauthorized parties, potentially leading to privacy risks for users [Article 85523]. |