| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident has happened again at one_organization:
The article mentions a previous global hack on Twitter in 2020, where high-profile accounts were hijacked to post messages asking for Bitcoin payments [Article 131249]. This incident involved a hacker named 'Kirk', believed to be Graham Ivan Clark, who claimed to be a Twitter employee and had control over Twitter accounts. This previous incident highlights a similar security breach within the same organization, Twitter.
(b) The software failure incident has happened again at multiple_organization:
There is no information in the provided article about a similar incident happening at other organizations. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the Twitter incident where a zero-day vulnerability was exploited by a hacker to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles. The vulnerability was a result of an update to Twitter's code in June 2021, which introduced the flaw that allowed the hacker to collect phone numbers and emails associated with the accounts [131249].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is evident in the Twitter breach where the hacker was able to scrape Twitter and collect sensitive information from millions of accounts due to the vulnerability in the system. This breach occurred due to the operation of the system, allowing the hacker to exploit the flaw and upload the data to the dark web for sale [131249]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system, outside_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident in Article 131249 was due to a zero-day vulnerability in Twitter's system that allowed a hacker to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles. This vulnerability was a result of an update to Twitter's code in June 2021, which introduced the bug that enabled the hacker to collect phone numbers and emails associated with the accounts. Twitter acknowledged the bug and immediately investigated and fixed it upon discovery [131249].
(b) outside_system: The software failure incident in Article 131249 was also influenced by factors originating from outside the system. The hacker, known as 'devil,' exploited the zero-day vulnerability within Twitter's system to scrape and collect sensitive information from millions of accounts. This external threat actor took advantage of the vulnerability to access and exfiltrate the data, which was then uploaded to the dark web for sale. The incident highlights the impact of external malicious actors on software security and the potential consequences of such attacks [131249]. |
| 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 Article 131249 was due to a zero-day vulnerability in Twitter's software that allowed a hacker to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles. This vulnerability was unknown to Twitter until it was exploited by the hacker, indicating a failure introduced without human participation [131249].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
- The vulnerability that led to the software failure in Article 131249 was a result of an update to Twitter's code in June 2021. This update introduced the bug that allowed someone to identify email or phone numbers associated with accounts. The human action of updating the code inadvertently introduced the vulnerability that was later exploited by the hacker [131249]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident related to hardware:
- The incident reported in Article 131249 does not mention any hardware-related issues contributing to the software failure. It primarily focuses on a zero-day vulnerability in Twitter's software that allowed a hacker to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles.
(b) The software failure incident related to software:
- The software failure incident reported in Article 131249 is attributed to a software flaw, specifically a zero-day vulnerability in Twitter's code that allowed a hacker to collect phone numbers and emails associated with millions of accounts.
- Twitter acknowledged that the vulnerability resulted from an update to their code in June 2021, indicating a software-related issue that led to the security breach. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident reported in Article 131249 is malicious in nature. The incident involved a zero-day vulnerability in Twitter's software that allowed a hacker, known as 'devil,' to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles, including phone numbers and emails associated with the accounts. The hacker then uploaded this data to the dark web and was selling the accounts for $30,000 each. This malicious act was carried out with the intent to harm the system and exploit the compromised information [131249]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident related to poor_decisions:
- The software failure incident involving the Twitter hack and data breach was due to a zero-day vulnerability that was exploited by a hacker known as 'devil' [131249].
- Twitter acknowledged that the vulnerability resulted from an update to their code in June 2021, indicating a potential poor decision in the code update process [131249].
(b) The intent of the software failure incident related to accidental_decisions:
- The incident does not specifically mention any accidental decisions that directly contributed to the software failure. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the Twitter data breach incident where a zero-day vulnerability allowed a hacker to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles. The hacker, known as 'devil,' was able to scrape Twitter and collect phone numbers and emails associated with millions of accounts due to what they claimed was 'Twitters incompetence' [131249].
(b) The accidental aspect of the software failure incident is highlighted in the Twitter security advisory where they mentioned that the bug resulting from an update to their code in June 2021 was not immediately detected. Twitter stated that when they learned about the vulnerability in January 2022, they immediately investigated and fixed it, as they had no evidence to suggest someone had taken advantage of the vulnerability until then [131249]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in the articles can be categorized as a temporary failure. The incident involved a zero-day vulnerability in Twitter's software that allowed a hacker to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles. Twitter acknowledged the vulnerability and immediately investigated and fixed it upon discovery. The hacker had already exploited the vulnerability and uploaded the data to the dark web, but Twitter took steps to address the issue and notify affected users. Additionally, the incident did not result in the theft of passwords, and Twitter encouraged users to enable two-factor authentication to enhance security ([131249]). |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, timing, value, other |
(a) crash: The incident involving Twitter's zero-day vulnerability allowed a hacker to compile a list of 5.4 million account profiles, resulting in a crash of the system's security measures. The vulnerability led to the unauthorized scraping of phone numbers and emails associated with millions of accounts [131249].
(b) omission: The software failure incident can be attributed to an omission in the system's security measures, as the vulnerability allowed the hacker to collect sensitive information such as phone numbers and emails associated with the compromised accounts. Twitter acknowledged that the bug resulted from an update to their code in June 2021, indicating an omission in addressing the vulnerability promptly [131249].
(c) timing: In terms of timing, the fix for the vulnerability was implemented after the hacker had already collected the data and uploaded it to the dark web for sale. Despite Twitter's efforts to patch the flaw, the timing of the response was too late to prevent the unauthorized access and data exfiltration [131249].
(d) value: The software failure incident resulted in the system performing its intended functions incorrectly, as the vulnerability allowed the hacker to access and compile sensitive information from millions of Twitter accounts. This incorrect behavior led to the compromise of user data, which was then sold on the dark web [131249].
(e) byzantine: The incident did not exhibit characteristics of a byzantine failure, as there were no mentions of inconsistent responses or interactions within the system. The focus was primarily on the unauthorized data collection and the subsequent sale of compromised account information [131249].
(f) other: The software failure incident also involved a security breach where the hacker was able to exploit a zero-day vulnerability in Twitter's system, leading to the unauthorized scraping of phone numbers and emails associated with 5.4 million accounts. This breach resulted in the compromise of user data and raised concerns about the security measures in place to protect user information [131249]. |