| Recurring |
one_organization |
(a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization:
- The software failure incident involving a hack at Ashley Madison (Avid Life Media) occurred again within the same organization. The initial hack in 2015 by The Impact Team exposed sensitive customer and company data, including source code and employee emails [38565].
- Following the 2015 hack, in 2016, Ashley Madison (now rebranded as Ruby) faced another software failure incident when it was hacked again, leading to a scathing report from the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Australian Privacy Commissioner criticizing ALM's actions post-breach [46911].
(b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization:
- There is no specific mention in the provided articles about a similar software failure 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 case of the Ashley Madison hack. The hackers, known as The Impact Team, were able to breach Ashley Madison's systems and extract a significant amount of customer and company data. They released source code for the Ashley Madison website and mobile properties, exposing vulnerabilities that could be exploited to subvert the site's security. This breach was a result of weaknesses in the design and development of Ashley Madison's systems, allowing the hackers to access sensitive information [38565].
(b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is evident in how Ashley Madison failed to adequately protect customer information and respond to the data breach. The Privacy Commissioners' report criticized Avid Life Media (ALM) for not having appropriate safeguards in place, including a lack of documented information security policies and an explicit risk management process. ALM also retained customer information even after users had deleted or deactivated their accounts, which posed a significant privacy risk. These operational shortcomings contributed to the breach and subsequent fallout experienced by Ashley Madison [46911]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system, outside_system |
(a) within_system: The software failure incident related to the Ashley Madison hack can be categorized as within_system. The hackers, known as The Impact Team, were able to breach Ashley Madison's servers and extract a significant amount of customer and company data by exploiting vulnerabilities within the system. They mentioned that they made a "fully undetectable attack" and found no need to bypass any software vulnerabilities, indicating that the breach originated from within the system itself [38565].
(b) outside_system: On the other hand, the software failure incident can also be categorized as outside_system to some extent. The hackers behind the breach, The Impact Team, demanded changes in ALM's policies, specifically around letting users permanently delete their accounts, and threatened to leak personal details if their demands were not met. This external pressure from the hackers influenced the outcome of the software failure incident [46911]. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions, human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to non-human actions:
- The software failure incident at Ashley Madison was primarily due to the actions of hackers who breached the company's servers and leaked customer and company data [38565].
- The hackers, known as The Impact Team, gained access to the company's servers and extracted a significant amount of data, including customer information, source code, financial records, and emails [38565].
- The hackers exploited vulnerabilities in the software application running on the site, leading to the spill of the site's backend SQL databases [38565].
- The hackers mentioned that they made a fully undetectable attack to get in and found no software vulnerability being exploited during the incident [38565].
- The leaked data included employee emails, user pictures, user messages, and source code repositories, exposing the company's intellectual property and posing a threat to the site's security [38565].
- The hackers had been in the company's servers for years, indicating a long-term presence within the network [38565].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
- The company, Avid Life Media (ALM), was criticized for not having appropriate safeguards in place, lacking documented information security policies, and failing to adequately train staff on security and privacy obligations, contributing to the breach [46911].
- ALM was faulted for retaining customer information even after users had deleted or deactivated their accounts, which was considered an unacceptable shortcoming given the sensitivity of the information the site traded in [46911].
- The Privacy Commissioners found that ALM fell short of its responsibility to customers by not having explicit risk management processes and appropriate security safeguards in place [46911].
- ALM agreed to remedies such as conducting a comprehensive review of security, stopping indefinite retention of information from deleted profiles, and providing a no-cost option for users to withdraw consent for their information being held by the site [46911]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The articles do not provide information about the software failure incident occurring due to hardware issues.
(b) The software failure incident in the articles was primarily due to contributing factors that originated in software. The incident involved a hack on the Ashley Madison website, where hackers broke into the servers and released customer and company data, including source code for the website and mobile property [38565]. The hackers were able to access the company's network and systems, indicating vulnerabilities in the software and network security. Additionally, the report from the Privacy Commissioners criticized Avid Life Media (ALM) for not having appropriate safeguards in place, including a lack of documented information security policies and an explicit risk management process, which are software-related issues [46911]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident related to the Ashley Madison hack can be categorized as malicious. The incident involved hackers breaking into the company's servers, releasing customer and company data, exposing sensitive information, source code, and emails. The hackers, known as The Impact Team, targeted Ashley Madison due to moral outrage at the company's practices, including the handling of personal information, privacy claims, and retention of customer data even after deletion requests. The hackers explicitly warned the company and leaked the data as a form of retaliation, causing a scandal and panic among users [38565, 46911].
(b) The software failure incident was not due to non-malicious factors. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
poor_decisions, accidental_decisions |
The intent of the software failure incident related to the Ashley Madison hack can be attributed to both poor decisions and accidental decisions:
(a) poor_decisions: The software failure incident can be linked to poor decisions made by Avid Life Media (ALM), the company behind Ashley Madison. The company was criticized for not having appropriate safeguards in place, lacking documented information security policies, not having an explicit risk management process, and failing to adequately train staff on security and privacy obligations [46911].
(b) accidental_decisions: On the other hand, the hackers who breached Ashley Madison's systems, known as The Impact Team, may have made accidental decisions or mistakes that led to the software failure incident. They were able to exploit vulnerabilities in the company's network and systems, gaining access to sensitive customer data and source code. The hackers mentioned that they worked hard to make their attack fully undetectable and found no security measures in place to stop them [38565]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence |
(a) The software failure incident occurring due to development incompetence:
- The incident involving the hack of Ashley Madison was a result of the company's failure to have appropriate safeguards in place considering the sensitivity of the personal information it held. The Privacy Commissioners criticized Avid Life Media (ALM) for not having documented information security policies, an explicit risk management process, and for failing to adequately train staff on security and privacy obligations [Article 46911].
(b) The software failure incident occurring accidentally:
- The hackers who breached Ashley Madison's servers, known as The Impact Team, claimed to have hacked the company completely, taking over their entire office and production domains and thousands of systems over the past few years. They mentioned that it was easy to breach the company's systems, indicating a lack of proper security measures in place [Article 38565]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident related to the Ashley Madison hack can be considered as a temporary failure. The incident occurred when the site was hacked by a group called The Impact Team in July 2015 [38565]. The hackers warned the company to change its policies, specifically regarding allowing users to permanently delete their accounts. When the company declined, the hackers leaked the data, leading to a scandal and panic among users [46911]. This indicates that the failure was due to contributing factors introduced by certain circumstances (the refusal to change policies) rather than all circumstances. |
| Behaviour |
crash, omission, value, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the Ashley Madison hack can be categorized as a crash. The incident involved hackers breaking into the servers, releasing customer and company data, exposing vulnerabilities in the source code, and potentially compromising the security of the site. This led to a significant disruption in the functioning of the Ashley Madison platform, impacting its users and the company's operations [38565].
(b) omission: The software failure incident also involved omission as a behavior. Ashley Madison failed to adequately protect the credit card transactions and personally identifiable information of its customers. The company recorded and stored IP addresses of paid accountholders for at least five years, making it easier for external entities like the Associated Press to uncover accounts opened by government employees using work networks to access the service. This omission of protecting user data privacy led to a breach of trust and privacy concerns for the affected individuals [38565].
(c) timing: The timing of the software failure incident can be considered in the context of the hack occurring over a period of time before being publicly disclosed. The hackers claimed to have been in Avid Life Media's servers for years, taking over various systems and databases. The data theft and extraction of sensitive information occurred over an extended period, with the final data release occurring after a month of the initial threat by the hackers. This delayed timing in the disclosure of the breach impacted the company's ability to respond effectively and mitigate the consequences in a timely manner [38565].
(d) value: The software failure incident also exhibited a failure related to value. Ashley Madison's promise to delete customer data for a fee, known as the "paid delete" process, was called into question by the hackers. Despite customers paying for the deletion of their profiles and activity traces, the hackers alleged that the company did not fully delete the data as promised. This discrepancy between the service offered and the actual data handling practices created a situation where users' expectations were not met, indicating a failure in delivering the intended value of the service [38565].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident did not exhibit behavior related to a byzantine failure, which involves erroneous and inconsistent responses or interactions within a distributed system.
(f) other: The software failure incident also involved other behaviors such as inadequate safeguards, lack of documented security policies, and insufficient risk management processes. The Privacy Commissioners' report criticized Avid Life Media for not having appropriate security measures in place, including the lack of documented information security policies and explicit risk management processes. The company's failure to adequately train staff on security and privacy obligations, as well as the practice of retaining customer information even after deletion, were highlighted as shortcomings in ensuring data protection and privacy [46911]. |