| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to a cyber-attack on Interserve occurred within the same organization. The incident involved a cyber-attack that enabled hackers to steal personal and financial information of up to 113,000 employees. The attack happened two years ago due to a phishing email that an employee downloaded, leading to compromised systems and accounts [133673].
(b) There is no specific information in the provided article about the software failure incident happening at multiple organizations. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was primarily due to contributing factors introduced during the design and development phases. The incident occurred because Interserve failed to put appropriate measures in place to prevent the cyber-attack, which happened two years ago. The attack was initiated when an employee downloaded a phishing email, and the subsequent anti-virus alert was not properly investigated. Additionally, Interserve was using outdated software systems and protocols, lacked adequate staff training, and had insufficient risk assessments [133673]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) within_system:
- The software failure incident at Interserve was primarily due to factors originating from within the system. The incident occurred when an employee downloaded a phishing email that the system failed to stop, and an anti-virus alert was not properly investigated [133673].
- Interserve's system failure to prevent the cyber-attack, the lack of appropriate measures in place, use of outdated software systems and protocols, inadequate staff training, and insufficient risk assessments were all internal factors contributing to the software failure incident [133673]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was primarily due to non-human actions. The cyber-attack on Interserve was initiated through a phishing email that an employee downloaded, leading to the compromise of systems and accounts [133673]. Additionally, the attack was facilitated by the failure of Interserve's system to stop the phishing email and the subsequent lack of proper investigation of the anti-virus alert, which allowed the attackers to uninstall the anti-virus system and encrypt employees' information [133673]. These actions were not directly caused by human intent but rather by vulnerabilities in the system and processes. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was not directly attributed to hardware issues. Instead, it was primarily due to software-related factors such as the failure to prevent a cyber-attack, outdated software systems and protocols, lack of adequate staff training, insufficient risk assessments, and the failure to properly investigate anti-virus alerts [133673]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious, non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident in Article 133673 was malicious. The failure occurred due to a cyber-attack where hackers stole personal and financial information of up to 113,000 employees of the construction group Interserve. The attack was enabled by a phishing email that an employee downloaded, leading to the compromise of systems and accounts, encryption of employee information, and disruption of operations. The attackers exploited vulnerabilities in Interserve's systems and protocols, indicating a deliberate intent to harm the company and its employees [133673].
(b) The software failure incident in Article 133673 was also non-malicious to some extent. The failure was attributed to Interserve's inadequate measures to prevent the cyber-attack, such as using outdated software systems, lack of staff training, and insufficient risk assessments. The failure to properly investigate an anti-virus alert and address the phishing email indicated a lack of proactive security measures and response protocols within the company. These non-malicious factors contributed to the success of the malicious cyber-attack [133673]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The software failure incident at Interserve was primarily due to poor decisions made by the company. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined Interserve £4.4m for breaking data protection law because the company failed to put appropriate measures in place to prevent the cyber-attack, which happened two years ago. The ICO highlighted that Interserve used outdated software systems and protocols, had a lack of adequate staff training, and insufficient risk assessments, which contributed to the breach [133673]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident in the article was primarily due to development incompetence. The incident occurred because Interserve Group failed to put appropriate measures in place to prevent the cyber-attack, which led to the compromise of personal and financial information of up to 113,000 employees [133673]. The company's system failed to stop a phishing email that an employee downloaded, and a subsequent anti-virus alert was not properly investigated. Additionally, Interserve used outdated software systems and protocols, lacked adequate staff training, and had insufficient risk assessments, all of which contributed to the breach [133673]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident at Interserve due to the cyber-attack was temporary. It was caused by specific contributing factors introduced by certain circumstances, such as the failure to prevent the phishing email, inadequate investigation of the anti-virus alert, and the compromise of systems and accounts [133673]. |
| Behaviour |
crash |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the article can be categorized as a crash. The incident led to the compromise of 283 systems and 16 accounts, uninstallation of Interserve’s anti-virus system, and encryption of all current and former employees’ information, indicating a failure of the system losing state and not performing its intended functions [133673]. |