| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to Robinhood experiencing system outages and critical systems failures has happened again within the same organization. The article mentions that between 2018 and late 2020, Robinhood failed to properly supervise its technology, leading to a "series of outages and critical systems failures," including a major outage during the pandemic turmoil of March 2020, which resulted in customers losing money [115477]. This indicates a recurring issue within Robinhood's technology infrastructure. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase is evident in the article as it mentions that between 2018 and late 2020, Robinhood failed to properly supervise its technology, leading to a "series of outages and critical systems failures," including a major outage during the pandemic turmoil of March 2020, which resulted in customers losing money [115477]. This indicates that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by the system development or updates.
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is also highlighted in the article when it mentions that thousands of customers suffered more than $7 million in losses due to misstatements in their accounts, including inaccurately showing negative cash balances and confusion regarding margin trades. For example, a Robinhood customer took his life in 2020 after becoming confused by messages in his account, which appeared to show he had turned off margin trades and inaccurately showed a negative cash balance [115477]. This indicates that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by the operation or misuse of the system. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident involving Robinhood Financial LLC included failures that originated from within the system. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined Robinhood for "systemic" failures, such as systems outages, providing false or misleading information, and weak options trading controls [115477]. Additionally, between 2018 and late 2020, Robinhood failed to properly supervise its technology, leading to a series of outages and critical systems failures, including a major outage during the pandemic turmoil of March 2020, which resulted in customers losing money [115477]. These failures indicate that the software issues were primarily within the system. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident related to non-human actions:
- The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined Robinhood Financial LLC $70 million for "systemic" failures, including systems outages and weak options trading controls, which harmed millions of the app's customers [115477].
- Between 2018 and late 2020, Robinhood experienced a "series of outages and critical systems failures," including a major outage during the pandemic turmoil of March 2020, leading customers to lose money [115477].
(b) The software failure incident related to human actions:
- Robinhood communicated false and misleading information to millions of its customers regarding various aspects such as trades on margin, cash in accounts, buying power, risk of loss, and margin calls [115477].
- Thousands of customers suffered more than $7 million in losses due to misstatements in their accounts, and a customer took his life in 2020 after becoming confused by messages in his account [115477]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The articles do not mention any specific hardware-related failures that contributed to the software failure incident reported in the news.
(b) The software failure incident reported in the news primarily stemmed from systemic failures within Robinhood's software systems. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined Robinhood for various issues, including systems outages, providing false or misleading information to customers, weak options trading controls, and failure to properly supervise its technology [115477]. These software-related failures led to customer harm, financial losses, and regulatory scrutiny. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to Robinhood's systemic failures, including systems outages, providing false or misleading information, and weak options trading controls, was non-malicious in nature. The failures were attributed to issues such as communication of false and misleading information to customers, failure to properly supervise technology leading to outages and critical systems failures, and failure to properly vet customers before allowing them to make risky options bets [115477]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions, accidental_decisions |
The software failure incident involving Robinhood Financial LLC encompassed contributing factors from both poor decisions and accidental decisions:
(a) poor_decisions: The incident involved systemic failures by Robinhood, including providing false or misleading information to customers, weak options trading controls, and failing to properly supervise its technology, leading to outages and critical systems failures [115477].
(b) accidental_decisions: The incident also included unintended consequences such as customers receiving inaccurate information in their accounts, which led to confusion and financial losses, as well as a customer taking his life after becoming confused by messages in his account [115477]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the case of Robinhood as reported in Article 115477. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined Robinhood Financial LLC $70 million for "systemic" failures, including systems outages, providing "false or misleading" information, and weak options trading controls. The article mentions that between 2018 and late 2020, Robinhood failed to properly supervise its technology, leading to a "series of outages and critical systems failures," including a major outage during the pandemic turmoil of March 2020, which caused customers to lose money [115477].
(b) The software failure incident related to accidental factors is also highlighted in the case of Robinhood. The article mentions that thousands of customers suffered more than $7 million in losses due to mis-statements in their accounts, which led to confusion and inaccurate information. Additionally, a Robinhood customer took his life in 2020 after becoming confused by messages in his account, which inaccurately showed a negative cash balance. These incidents point to accidental factors contributing to the software failure [115477]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident related to Robinhood involved temporary failures. The articles mention that between 2018 and late 2020, Robinhood experienced a "series of outages and critical systems failures," including a major outage during the pandemic turmoil of March 2020, which led customers to lose money [115477]. These incidents indicate that the failures were temporary and not permanent. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident related to Robinhood involved system outages and critical systems failures, including a major outage during the pandemic turmoil of March 2020, which led customers to lose money [115477].
(b) omission: The software failure incident included instances where Robinhood failed to properly supervise its technology, causing a series of outages and critical systems failures, leading to customers losing money [115477].
(c) timing: There is no specific information in the provided article indicating a timing-related failure.
(d) value: The software failure incident involved Robinhood communicating false and misleading information to millions of its customers regarding various aspects such as trades on margin, cash in their accounts, buying power, risk of loss, and margin calls, leading to confusion and financial losses for customers [115477].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident did not involve inconsistent responses or interactions that would classify it as a byzantine failure.
(f) other: The software failure incident also included failures related to Robinhood's failure to properly vet customers before allowing them to make risky options bets, as alleged by FINRA [115477]. |