| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident has happened again at one_organization:
- The incident at Gloucester City Council involving a cyber attack linked to Russian hackers is mentioned to be the second time in ten years that such an attack has occurred [Article 123045].
(b) The software failure incident has happened again at multiple_organization:
- There is no specific mention in the provided articles about similar incidents happening at other organizations. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident in the articles can be attributed to the design phase. The incident was caused by a cyber attack linked to Russian hackers that compromised Gloucester City Council's IT systems. The malware was embedded in an email sent to a council officer, indicating a vulnerability in the system's design that allowed the harmful software to infiltrate the network [134018, 123045].
(b) Additionally, the software failure incident can also be linked to the operation phase. The attack resulted in delays in benefit payments, planning applications, and house sales, impacting the operation of the council's services. The incident led to parts of the council's website being down, affecting online revenue and benefits, planning, and customer services. The disruption in operations required the council to rebuild all of its servers to address the issue [134018, 123045]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident at Gloucester City Council was caused by a cyber attack where malware infected the council's IT systems. The harmful software was embedded in an email sent to a council officer, indicating an internal origin of the contributing factor [134018, 123045]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions:
- The cyber attack on Gloucester City Council's IT systems was linked to Russian hackers, with malware embedded in an email that was sent to a council officer, leading to the compromise of the systems [134018, 123045].
- The harmful software, known as sleeper malware, was dormant for some time before being activated, indicating a non-human action in the introduction of the malicious code [134018, 123045].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
- The council's Liberal Democrat group leader Jeremy Hilton raised concerns about the escalating costs of recovering from the cyber attack, indicating potential human decision-making or actions contributing to the financial impact [134018].
- The Deputy leader of the council emphasized the importance of making cost-effective decisions with taxpayers' money, suggesting human involvement in the decision-making process related to the recovery efforts [134018]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware, software |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to hardware:
- The cyber attack on Gloucester City Council's IT systems was caused by malware embedded in an email, which compromised the servers [134018].
- The harmful software, known as sleeper malware, was dormant for some time before being activated, indicating a stealthy infiltration [123045].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to software:
- The cyber attack on Gloucester City Council's IT systems was a result of malware infecting its systems, indicating a software-related issue [134018].
- The malware that affected the council's IT systems was embedded in an email, highlighting a software vulnerability [123045]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was malicious, as it was a cyber attack linked to Russian hackers targeting Gloucester City Council's IT systems. The attack involved the infiltration of harmful software, known as sleeper malware, which was embedded in an email sent to a council officer. The malware was dormant for some time before being activated, causing significant disruption to the council's operations and resulting in delays in benefit payments, planning applications, and house sales [134018, 123045]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident related to the cyber attack on Gloucester City Council's IT systems was primarily due to poor decisions. The incident was linked to a cyber attack carried out by Russian hackers, where malware infected the council's systems after being embedded in an email sent to a council officer. The harmful software, known as sleeper malware, was dormant for some time before being activated, indicating a lack of proper cybersecurity measures to detect and prevent such attacks [134018, 123045]. Additionally, the incident resulted in significant financial costs for the council, with the recovery efforts already amounting to £787,000 and potentially reaching up to £1m [134018]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the articles. The cyber attack on Gloucester City Council's IT systems was linked to Russian hackers, causing significant financial implications for the council. The malware that infected the systems was embedded in an email sent to a council officer, indicating a lack of proper email security measures [134018, 123045].
(b) The software failure incident also involved accidental factors. The harmful software, known as sleeper malware, was dormant for some time before being activated, suggesting that the attack was not immediately detected or prevented, possibly due to oversight or lack of robust cybersecurity measures [134018, 123045]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in the articles was temporary. The incident was caused by a cyber attack linked to Russian hackers that compromised Gloucester City Council's IT systems [134018, 123045]. The attack resulted in delays in benefit payments, planning applications, house sales, and affected online services. The council had to rebuild all of its servers after malware infected its systems, and parts of the council's website remained down due to the attack. The incident was not permanent as efforts were being made to restore the IT systems and address the situation as quickly as possible, although it was estimated that it could take up to six months to resolve the issue [134018, 123045]. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, value, other |
(a) crash:
- The software failure incident involved a crash as the council's IT systems were compromised, leading to benefit payments, planning applications, and house sales being delayed [134018].
- Parts of the council's website remained down due to the cyber attack, indicating a crash in the system [123045].
(b) omission:
- The software failure incident resulted in the omission of services such as online application forms for housing benefit, council tax support, test and trace support payments, and discretionary housing payments, which were delayed or unavailable [123045].
(c) timing:
- There is no specific mention of a timing-related failure in the articles.
(d) value:
- The software failure incident led to the system performing its intended functions incorrectly, as malware infected the systems, causing significant financial costs to the council for recovery [134018].
(e) byzantine:
- The articles do not mention any inconsistent responses or interactions that would indicate a byzantine behavior in the software failure incident.
(f) other:
- The software failure incident involved the activation of sleeper malware that had been dormant for some time before causing harm, which could be considered an unexpected behavior not covered by the other options [134018].
|