| Recurring |
unknown |
(a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization:
- The article does not provide information about a similar incident happening again within the same organization or with its products and services. Therefore, it is unknown if a similar incident has occurred before within the same organization [110382].
(b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization:
- The article does not mention any similar incident happening again at other organizations or with their products and services. Hence, it is unknown if a similar incident has occurred at multiple organizations [110382]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident in Article 110382 was primarily due to a human coding error during the development phase. The faulty coding in a piece of software designed to weed out records from the Police National Computer led to the automatic deletion of hundreds of thousands of records. This error was a contributing factor introduced during system development [110382].
(b) Additionally, the operation of the system was impacted as live police investigations were affected, and data from criminals convicted of serious offences was deleted. The misuse of the system, in this case, the unintended consequences of the faulty software operation, led to the deletion of crucial records and data [110382]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident involving the deletion of hundreds of thousands of police records was primarily within the system. The incident was attributed to a human coding error with the Police National Computer, where a piece of software designed to weed out records went haywire due to faulty coding, leading to the automatic deletion of a significant amount of data [110382]. The issue originated internally within the system's coding and functionality, resulting in the unintended deletion of crucial records. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was primarily due to a human coding error with the Police National Computer. The faulty coding in a piece of software designed to weed out records from the database led to the automatic deletion of hundreds of thousands of records [110382].
(b) The human coding error was a key factor in the software failure incident. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the incident as "outrageous" and mentioned that the Home Office was trying to retrieve the lost data. The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, highlighted that police chiefs reported the deletion of a significant number of records, including offence records, arrest records, DNA records, and fingerprint records. The Home Office had to rush to stop the automatic deletions and is now working on recovering the lost data [110382]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was primarily due to contributing factors that originated in software. The incident was caused by a human coding error with the Police National Computer, leading to the automatic deletion of hundreds of thousands of records [110382]. The faulty coding in the software designed to weed out records from the database that the computer had no legal right to hold went haywire, resulting in the deletion of a significant amount of data. The Home Office mentioned that they were trying to retrieve the lost data and investigate the affected records [110382].
(b) The software failure incident was not attributed to hardware issues but rather to software-related factors. The article specifically mentions a human coding error as the root cause of the problem with the Police National Computer, leading to the deletion of records [110382]. The incident highlights the importance of software quality and testing in preventing such failures. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident described in Article 110382 was non-malicious. The incident was attributed to a human coding error that caused a piece of software to automatically delete hundreds of thousands of police records from the Police National Computer. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to the incident as "outrageous" and mentioned that efforts were being made to retrieve the lost data. The Home Office was working to investigate the deleted records and recover as much information as possible. The deletion of records was not intentional but resulted from faulty coding that led to unintended consequences [110382]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident related to the deletion of hundreds of thousands of police records due to a human coding error with the Police National Computer was primarily attributed to poor decisions. The incident occurred because of a piece of software designed to weed out records from the database that the computer had no legal right to hold, which went haywire due to faulty coding and began automatically deleting other records [110382]. The deletion of records was a result of a poor decision in the coding implementation, leading to the loss of crucial data and affecting live police investigations and DNA records marked for indefinite retention following serious offences. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was primarily attributed to a human coding error, indicating a failure due to development incompetence. The faulty coding in the software designed to weed out records from the Police National Computer led to the automatic deletion of hundreds of thousands of other records [110382]. This error was a result of a lack of professional competence in coding and software development.
(b) The incident was not described as accidental in the articles. |
| Duration |
permanent, temporary |
The software failure incident related to the deletion of police records due to a human coding error with the Police National Computer can be categorized as both temporary and permanent:
(a) Permanent: The incident resulted in the permanent deletion of hundreds of thousands of police records due to faulty coding in the software. The article mentions that the data deletion included 213,000 offence records, 175,000 arrest records, and 15,000 personal records [110382].
(b) Temporary: Efforts were made to retrieve the lost data and restore the deleted information. The Home Office was working to stop the automatic deletions and a special command was trying to recover what could be saved. This indicates a temporary aspect of the failure incident as attempts were being made to rectify the situation [110382]. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, timing, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the article can be categorized as a crash. The faulty coding in the software caused it to automatically delete hundreds of thousands of records from the Police National Computer, leading to a situation where the system lost its state and was not performing its intended functions [110382].
(b) omission: The software failure incident can also be categorized as an omission. Due to the faulty coding, the software omitted to perform its intended function of only weeding out records from the database that the computer had no legal right to hold. Instead, it started deleting a large number of other records [110382].
(c) timing: The timing of the software failure incident can be considered as a factor in the failure. The incident involved the software performing its intended functions incorrectly at a specific time, leading to the deletion of records that should not have been deleted. This incorrect timing of the software's actions contributed to the failure [110382].
(d) value: The software failure incident can be attributed to a failure in value. The software performed its intended functions incorrectly by deleting records that it should not have deleted, leading to a loss of valuable data. This failure in the value of the software's actions resulted in significant consequences [110382].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident does not align with a byzantine failure. The incident was primarily characterized by a human coding error that led to the software malfunctioning and deleting records erroneously. There were no indications of inconsistent responses or interactions from the software in the articles [110382].
(f) other: The other behavior exhibited by the software failure incident was a cascading effect. The Police National Computer, which holds 13 million records, is interconnected with other databases. The faulty software's actions cascaded down into other directories, such as the IDENT fingerprint database or the national DNA database, causing further deletions and complications beyond the initial error [110382]. |