| Recurring |
multiple_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to the hacking of student data at Downingtown Area School District in Pennsylvania is a unique incident specific to that organization. There is no mention in the articles of a similar incident happening before within the same organization.
(b) However, the articles do mention that similar incidents of student data breaches have occurred at other schools. For example, a data breach at a Maryland high school involving Naviance, similar to the Downingtown hack, where a student used a "brute force attack" to download sensitive information about peers [Article 90787]. Additionally, the articles highlight that more schools are becoming victims of big hacks perpetrated by students, indicating a broader trend of such incidents occurring at multiple organizations [Article 90787]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident in the Downingtown Area School District was primarily due to contributing factors introduced during the design phase of the system. The high school students hacked into the district's systems to obtain personal information and test scores of over 12,000 students by gaining "teacher-level access" and using "unethical coding methods" [90787]. This incident highlights a vulnerability in the system's design that allowed unauthorized access to sensitive data.
(b) Additionally, the software failure incident can also be attributed to contributing factors introduced during the operation phase. The students misused their access to the system by extracting private information such as grade-point averages, SAT scores, phone numbers, and ethnicities of students [90787]. This misuse of the system's operation led to a breach of data privacy and security, emphasizing the importance of proper system operation and monitoring to prevent such incidents. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily within_system. The incident involved high school students hacking into the school district's systems to access test scores and personal information of over 12,000 students. The students obtained teacher-level access and used unethical coding methods to extract data such as grade-point averages, SAT scores, phone numbers, and ethnicities [90787]. The data breach was facilitated by the students' actions within the system, showcasing a failure originating from within the system itself. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in the Downingtown Area School District was primarily due to human actions. High school students hacked into the school district's systems to access test scores and personal information of over 12,000 students in an attempt to gain an advantage in a water-gun fight. The students obtained teacher-level access using unethical coding methods to extract data such as grade-point averages, SAT scores, phone numbers, and ethnicities. The incident was described as a crime by the school district, and they are considering pressing charges against the students involved [90787].
(b) The software failure incident was not attributed to non-human actions but was a result of deliberate actions taken by the students to breach the school district's systems and extract sensitive information. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily related to software factors rather than hardware factors. The incident involved high school students hacking into the school district's systems to access test scores and personal information of over 12,000 students. The students obtained this data by using "unethical coding methods" and gaining "teacher-level access" to the systems [90787].
The incident was described as a crime by the school district, and the students' actions were considered reprehensible. The district's technology director emphasized that hacking is a federal offense, indicating that the failure was caused by the unauthorized access and manipulation of software systems rather than any hardware issues.
While the articles do not specifically mention any hardware-related contributing factors to the software failure incident, the focus is on the students' use of coding methods to extract sensitive information, indicating that the root cause of the failure lies in software-related vulnerabilities and actions. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident described in the articles is non-malicious. The incident involved high school students hacking into the school district's systems to obtain personal information and test scores of students in order to gain an advantage in a water-gun fight, rather than with malicious intent to harm the system or individuals [90787]. The district spokeswoman mentioned that they do not think the attack was malicious, and the data accessed was not tampered with [90787]. Additionally, the article highlights that the hack was allegedly carried out as part of a local tradition called "senior water games," which is a game modeled after "Assassin" where players typically try to eliminate each other over the course of days [90787]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident was poor_decisions. The high school students hacked into the school district's systems in an attempt to gain an advantage in a water-gun fight, which led to the unauthorized access of sensitive information such as test scores, personal data, and contact information of over 12,000 students [90787]. This incident was described as a crime by the school district, and the students obtained the data using unethical coding methods, indicating poor decision-making on their part. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident in the Downingtown Area School District was due to development incompetence. High school students hacked into the district's systems to obtain personal information and test scores of over 12,000 students using "unethical coding methods" and gaining "teacher-level access" to the systems. The administrators mentioned that the state of cybersecurity in education software is poor, with vulnerabilities being exploited by students [90787].
(b) The software failure incident was not accidental but a deliberate act by the students to gain an advantage in a water-gun fight. The students' actions were described as "reprehensible" by the school district, and they are considering pressing charges as hacking is a federal offense. The incident involved a deliberate attempt to compromise accounts and extract sensitive information, indicating a purposeful act rather than an accidental one [90787]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in the articles can be categorized as a temporary failure. The incident involved high school students hacking into the school district's systems to access test scores and personal information of over 12,000 students. The incident was discovered on October 11, and an investigation is ongoing to determine the extent of the breach and the individuals involved. The district has not yet decided on a punishment for the students responsible, indicating that the incident is still being addressed and resolved [90787]. |
| Behaviour |
omission, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the Downingtown Area School District involved hacking into test scores and personal information of over 12,000 students. The students obtained "teacher-level access" to systems and used "unethical coding methods" to extract various private information about the students. However, it is mentioned that none of the data accessed was tampered with, indicating that the system did not crash and continued to function without losing its state [90787].
(b) omission: The incident involved the students omitting to perform their intended functions by hacking into the system to extract information that they were not authorized to access. This omission led to the unauthorized extraction of grade-point averages, SAT scores, phone numbers, ethnicities, and other private information about the students [90787].
(c) timing: There is no specific mention of a timing-related failure in the articles provided.
(d) value: The software failure incident did not involve the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. The data accessed by the students was not tampered with, indicating that the system did not provide incorrect information [90787].
(e) byzantine: The incident did not involve the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. The students were able to extract the desired information using their unauthorized access without facing any inconsistencies in the system's responses [90787].
(f) other: The other behavior observed in this software failure incident is unauthorized access and extraction of sensitive information by the students. The students used unethical coding methods to obtain private data about the students, which was not intended by the system design [90787]. |