| Recurring |
one_organization, multiple_organization |
(a) The software failure incident having happened again at one_organization:
- The New York Times was one of the organizations affected by the hack, with their website experiencing an hours-long outage due to the redirection of visitors to a server controlled by the Syrian Electronic Army [20857].
- MelbourneIT, the Australian Internet company that manages major site addresses, was identified as the main hacking victim in this incident, with the breach traced back to an Indian Internet service provider [20857].
(b) The software failure incident having happened again at multiple_organization:
- Prior to this incident, hackers supporting the Syrian government had targeted websites belonging to CNN, Time, and the Washington Post by breaching a third-party service used by those sites [20857].
- Media companies, including the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post, have been targeted by hackers in the past, with incidents involving breaches and attacks on their websites [20857]. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles can be attributed to the design phase. The incident occurred due to hackers breaching an Australian Internet company, MelbourneIT, which manages major site addresses including those of media companies like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post. The hackers gained control by penetrating MelbourneIT's systems through a fake email seeking login details, leading to the redirection of visitors to a server controlled by the Syrian Electronic Army [20857]. This breach highlights a vulnerability in the design or security measures of the system during development or operation, allowing unauthorized access and control by external entities. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system, outside_system |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily due to contributing factors that originate from within the system. The incident involved hackers supporting the Syrian government breaching an Australian Internet company, MelbourneIT, which manages major site addresses for media companies like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post [20857].
The New York Times website experienced an hours-long outage after being redirected to a server controlled by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a hacker group supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [20857]. The SEA managed to gain control of the sites by penetrating MelbourneIT, the domain name registrar for NYTimes.com and other media organizations [20857].
MelbourneIT confirmed that the breach occurred when two staff members from one of their resellers opened a fake email seeking login details, leading to the compromise of the NYTimes domain manager's login and password information [20857]. The incident was described as a sophisticated attack orchestrated by the SEA to create a high-profile event [20857].
(b) The software failure incident also involved contributing factors that originate from outside the system. The hackers supporting the Syrian government targeted the media companies, including the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post, as part of their cyber attacks against organizations they considered hostile to the Syrian government [20857].
The attack on the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post websites was attributed to the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a hacker group known for targeting media organizations and other entities perceived as adversaries of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [20857]. The SEA breached MelbourneIT, an Australian Internet service provider that manages domain names for various major websites, to gain control over the targeted sites [20857]. |
| 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 the news article was primarily caused by hackers supporting the Syrian government breaching the Australian Internet company that manages major site addresses, leading to websites like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post losing control [Article 20857].
- The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a hacker group, claimed credit for the hacks on Twitter and the Huffington Post, redirecting visitors to a server controlled by the group before the sites went dark [Article 20857].
- The attack on NYTimes.com resulted in an hours-long outage, with the site redirecting visitors to a server controlled by the Syrian group [Article 20857].
- The breach at MelbourneIT, an Australian Internet service provider, allowed the SEA to gain control of sites like Twitter.com and NYTimes.com, leading to the software failure incident [Article 20857].
(b) The software failure incident occurring due to human actions:
- The breach at MelbourneIT was tracked back to an Indian Internet service provider, where two staff members from one of their resellers opened a fake email seeking login details, leading to the compromise of the account information [Article 20857].
- One staff member at MelbourneIT had the login and password information of the NYTimes domain in his email, which the hackers accessed, contributing to the software failure incident [Article 20857].
- The CEO of MelbourneIT mentioned that the SEA targeted the company specifically to create a high-profile event, indicating a deliberate human action behind the attack [Article 20857]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
software |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles was not due to hardware issues but rather due to a hack orchestrated by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) targeting the Australian Internet company MelbourneIT, which manages major site addresses for media companies like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post [20857].
(b) The software failure incident was primarily due to contributing factors originating in software, specifically a malicious external attack by hackers supporting the Syrian government, which led to the loss of control of websites belonging to media companies like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post [20857]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
malicious |
(a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is malicious in nature. The incident involved hackers supporting the Syrian government breaching an Australian Internet company, MelbourneIT, which manages major site addresses including those of media companies like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post. The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA), a hacker group hostile to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, claimed credit for the hacks on Twitter and the Huffington Post. The New York Times website was redirected to a server controlled by the Syrian group before going dark, indicating a deliberate attack [20857]. The hackers targeted specific websites and had the ability to take sites offline or place their own content there, demonstrating a malicious intent [20857].
(b) The software failure incident is not non-malicious. The attack was not accidental or unintentional but rather a deliberate act by the hackers to disrupt the functioning of the targeted websites. The hackers gained control of the sites by penetrating the systems of MelbourneIT, a domain name registrar, and actively sought login details through deceptive means. The incident involved sophisticated tactics and targeted specific organizations, indicating a malicious intent to cause disruption and potentially capture sensitive information [20857]. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
unknown |
(a) The intent of the software failure incident was not due to poor decisions but rather a deliberate and targeted attack by hackers supporting the Syrian government, specifically the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA). The hackers breached the Australian Internet company MelbourneIT, which manages major site addresses, to gain control of websites belonging to media companies like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post [20857]. The attack was described as quite sophisticated, with the hackers specifically targeting high-profile websites to create an event [20857].
(b) The software failure incident was not accidental but rather a deliberate and intentional act by the hackers. The Syrian Electronic Army claimed credit for the hacks on Twitter and the Huffington Post, redirecting visitors to a server controlled by the group. The attack was part of the SEA's ongoing efforts to target media organizations they consider hostile to the Syrian government [20857]. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the article as hackers supporting the Syrian government breached the Australian Internet company that manages major site addresses, leading to websites like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post losing control [20857]. This breach occurred due to the hackers gaining access to the domain name registrar, MelbourneIT, through a phishing attack on staff members, indicating a lack of professional competence in handling security measures and protecting sensitive information [20857].
(b) The accidental aspect of the software failure incident is highlighted in the article when MelbourneIT tracked the breach to an Indian Internet service provider, where two staff members from one of their resellers inadvertently opened a fake email seeking login details, leading to the compromise of the account [20857]. This accidental action by the staff members allowed the hackers to access the login and password information, ultimately resulting in the software failure incident. |
| Duration |
temporary |
(a) The software failure incident in the articles was temporary. The New York Times website experienced an hours-long outage, Twitter had availability issues for 90 minutes, and the Huffington Post attack was limited to the blogging platform’s British web address [20857]. These incidents indicate that the software failure was not permanent but rather temporary in nature. |
| Behaviour |
crash, other |
(a) crash: The software failure incident in the articles can be categorized as a crash. This is evident from the fact that NYTimes.com experienced an hours-long outage and redirected visitors to a server controlled by the Syrian Electronic Army before going dark [20857].
(b) omission: There is no specific mention of the software failure incident being related to omission in the articles.
(c) timing: The incident does not align with a timing failure where the system performs its intended functions but at the wrong time.
(d) value: The software failure incident does not involve the system performing its intended functions incorrectly.
(e) byzantine: The behavior of the software failure incident does not exhibit the characteristics of a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions.
(f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident can be categorized as a targeted attack by hackers, specifically the Syrian Electronic Army, aiming to disrupt the services of media companies like the New York Times, Twitter, and the Huffington Post by gaining control over their websites [20857]. |