| Recurring |
multiple_organization |
(a) The article does not provide information about a similar software failure incident happening again within the same organization (Essex Police).
(b) The article mentions that the incident involving the Essex Police being hacked on Twitter occurred soon after the financial details of up to 4 million customers of the mobile network TalkTalk were compromised by a cyber-attack. This suggests that similar incidents of cyber-attacks or security breaches have happened at other organizations as well, in this case, TalkTalk [53040]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident in the article is related to the design phase. The incident occurred due to hackers hijacking the Essex Police Twitter account, which indicates a breach in the system's security design or implementation. The rogue tweet with an offensive picture was sent out by a hacker, highlighting a vulnerability in the system's design that allowed unauthorized access and malicious activity [53040].
(b) The software failure incident in the article is also related to the operation phase. The incident continued for at least 40 minutes before the police realized the account had been hacked, indicating a failure in the operation or monitoring of the system. The delay in detecting and responding to the unauthorized access and malicious tweet suggests operational shortcomings in managing the security of the Twitter account [53040]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident reported in Article 53040 falls under the within_system boundary. The failure occurred due to hackers hijacking the Essex Police Twitter account and sending out a rogue tweet containing an offensive picture. This breach of account security and unauthorized access to the Twitter account were internal system vulnerabilities that led to the incident [53040]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in Article #53040 occurred due to non-human actions, specifically hackers hijacking the Essex police Twitter account and posting an offensive picture. The rogue tweet was sent out by a hacker, and the police had to apologize to their followers for the malicious tweet. Additionally, the police advised users who clicked on the link to run a security check on their computers to ensure they were not infected. The incident was a result of the account security being breached by external actors (hackers) without direct human involvement in causing the failure. [53040] |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident reported in Article #53040 was not directly attributed to hardware issues. The incident involved hackers hijacking the Essex Police Twitter account and posting an offensive picture, indicating a breach in online security rather than a hardware-related failure. Therefore, the contributing factors that originated in hardware were not the primary cause of this software failure incident. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident in Article #53040 was malicious in nature. Hackers hijacked the Essex police Twitter account and sent out a rogue tweet containing an offensive picture with a link. The tweet was described as "malicious" and the police advised users not to click on the link. The incident was recognized as a security breach, and steps were taken to prevent a recurrence. Additionally, the police acknowledged that passwords were changed and security was reviewed, indicating an intentional breach by external actors with harmful intent [53040]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident:
- The software failure incident of hackers hijacking the Essex police Twitter account and posting an offensive picture was due to poor decisions made in terms of online security measures. The incident led to the police issuing an apology to their followers and advising them to run security checks on their computers after clicking on the malicious link [53040]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
accidental |
(a) The software failure incident in Article #53040 was not directly attributed to development incompetence. The incident was caused by hackers hijacking the Essex Police Twitter account, indicating a security breach rather than a failure due to lack of professional competence.
(b) The software failure incident in Article #53040 was accidental in nature, as it was caused by hackers gaining unauthorized access to the Essex Police Twitter account and posting offensive content. The police acknowledged the incident as malicious and took steps to prevent a recurrence, indicating that the breach was accidental rather than a result of intentional actions by the organization. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was temporary as the rogue tweet was left on the network for at least 40 minutes before the police realized the account had been hacked. It was then deleted once the breach was identified [53040]. |
| Behaviour |
crash |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in Article #53040 can be categorized as a crash. The Essex police Twitter account was hijacked by hackers who sent out a rogue tweet containing an offensive picture, leading to the system losing control and not performing its intended function of maintaining the security and integrity of the account. The tweet was left on the network for at least 40 minutes before the police realized the account had been hacked, indicating a loss of control over the system's state [53040]. |