| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident related to exposing Social Security numbers of teachers and school employees due to a security flaw in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) happened at the same organization again. The incident occurred when a web application allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials, leading to the exposure of more than 100,000 Social Security numbers [119973].
(b) There is no information in the provided articles about a similar incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident related to the design phase can be seen in the incident where a security flaw was identified in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) [119973]. The flaw exposed the Social Security numbers of teachers and other school employees due to poor security practices in the design of the website. The vulnerability was described as "mind-boggling" by a security professor, indicating a significant flaw in the system's design that allowed for such sensitive information to be exposed.
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase can be observed in the misuse of the system by an individual who accessed and viewed the Social Security numbers of educators without authorization. The incident involved decoding the HTML source code of the website to reveal the sensitive information, highlighting a failure in the operation or misuse of the system [119973]. Governor Parson described this act as unlawful and unauthorized access to personal information, leading to legal threats and investigations into the matter. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system, outside_system |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily within_system. The incident involved a security flaw in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that exposed the Social Security numbers of teachers and other school employees [119973]. The vulnerability was discovered by a journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who found that more than 100,000 Social Security numbers were vulnerable in a web application that allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials. The numbers were contained in the HTML source code of the pages involved, indicating an internal system flaw [119973].
However, the response to the incident involved external factors as well. The Missouri governor threatened to prosecute and seek civil damages from the journalist who identified the security flaw, claiming that the journalist was a "hacker" and accusing the newspaper of attempting to embarrass the state [119973]. This external response to the internal system failure added complexity to the incident. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was primarily due to non-human actions, specifically a security flaw in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that exposed the Social Security numbers of teachers and other school employees. The vulnerability was discovered in a web application that allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials, leading to the exposure of more than 100,000 Social Security numbers [119973].
(b) Human actions also played a significant role in this software failure incident. Missouri governor Mike Parson threatened to prosecute and seek civil damages from a journalist who identified the security flaw and reported it to the state, accusing the journalist of being a "hacker" and attempting to steal personal information and harm Missourians. The governor's response to the incident, including legal threats and blaming the journalist and the news outlet, contributed to the human actions aspect of this failure incident [119973]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident did not occur due to hardware issues. The incident was primarily related to a security flaw in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that exposed the Social Security numbers of teachers and other school employees [119973].
(b) The software failure incident occurred due to contributing factors that originated in software. The incident was caused by a security vulnerability in a web application maintained by the DESE, which allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials. This vulnerability led to the exposure of more than 100,000 Social Security numbers of school employees. The flaw was described as "mind-boggling" by a security professor, and the data on the website was encoded but not encrypted, making it relatively easy to decode and view the sensitive information. The incident involved the unauthorized access and viewing of personal information without permission, leading to legal threats and accusations of criminal hacking by the governor [119973]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was non-malicious. The incident involved a security flaw in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that exposed the Social Security numbers of teachers and other school employees. The vulnerability was discovered by a journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who reported the issue to the department to allow them time to fix the problem before making it public [119973].
The governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, however, characterized the journalist as a "hacker" and accused them of attempting to steal personal information and harm Missourians. He threatened to prosecute and seek civil damages against the journalist and the newspaper, claiming that they were trying to embarrass the state and sell headlines. Despite the governor's accusations, the journalist followed ethical security research practices by reporting the vulnerability to the state to protect teachers' private information [119973]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
accidental_decisions |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident:
- The incident was not due to poor decisions but rather due to mistakes or unintended decisions. The journalist who identified the security flaw in the website maintained by the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education did so in a responsible manner, following ethical security research practices. The journalist delayed publishing the report to give the department time to fix the vulnerability and protect teachers' private information [119973].
- Governor Parson accused the journalist of trying to harm Missourians and steal personal information, claiming that the journalist's actions were an attempt to embarrass the state and sell headlines for their news outlet. However, the journalist's actions were aimed at highlighting a security vulnerability and ensuring that the state took steps to protect teachers' private information [119973].
- The incident was not a result of poor decisions but rather a response to the discovery of a security vulnerability that exposed Social Security numbers of teachers and other school employees. The journalist's actions were focused on responsible disclosure and helping the state address the vulnerability [119973]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
accidental |
(a) The software failure incident in this case does not seem to be directly related to development incompetence. The incident was primarily caused by a security flaw in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that exposed the Social Security numbers of teachers and other school employees [119973].
(b) The software failure incident appears to be accidental in nature. The vulnerability that exposed the Social Security numbers of teachers and school employees was not intentionally created but was a result of poor security practices and design choices in the DESE web application. The flaw was described as "mind-boggling" by a security professor, indicating that it was an unintentional oversight rather than a deliberate act of incompetence [119973]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in the articles was temporary. The incident involved a security flaw in a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that exposed Social Security numbers of teachers and school employees. The issue was discovered by a journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who found that more than 100,000 Social Security numbers were vulnerable in a web application that allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials [119973].
The incident was temporary because the DESE took immediate action to address the vulnerability. The affected pages were removed from the website, and the educator-credentials checker was taken down for maintenance. Additionally, the DESE disabled public access to the system and updated the code to repair the vulnerability in response to the report [119973]. |
| Behaviour |
other |
(a) crash: The incident reported in the articles does not involve a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions. The software vulnerability discovered in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's website did not lead to a system crash but rather exposed sensitive information like Social Security numbers [119973].
(b) omission: The software failure incident does not involve omission where the system omits to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). The vulnerability in the website allowed access to Social Security numbers that should not have been exposed, but it was not due to the system omitting any functions [119973].
(c) timing: The incident does not relate to a timing failure where the system performs its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. The vulnerability exposed Social Security numbers in the HTML source code of the website, indicating a flaw in the system's security implementation rather than a timing issue [119973].
(d) value: The software failure incident does not involve a value failure where the system performs its intended functions incorrectly. The issue was related to a security vulnerability that exposed sensitive information, but the system was functioning as designed, albeit with a critical flaw in its implementation [119973].
(e) byzantine: The incident does not exhibit a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. The vulnerability in the website allowed consistent access to Social Security numbers, indicating a systematic flaw rather than erratic behavior [119973].
(f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident can be categorized as a security vulnerability leading to unauthorized access to sensitive information. The flaw in the system allowed the exposure of Social Security numbers in the HTML source code, highlighting a critical security oversight rather than a specific type of failure behavior [119973]. |