What Is The Real Cause Of The Optus Outage?

By Nick Hurley

What Is The Real Cause Of The Optus Outage?

Imagine the chaos when your phone and internet services abruptly stop working. This is what millions of users faced during the massive Optus network outage earlier this week, a major upheaval caused by a mysterious “deep fault”.

Key Takeaways

• The Optus Outage was caused by a “deep fault” in the network, according to Optus and confirmed by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.
• Possible causes for the outage include human error, faults in the core network, and network upgrades.
• Implementing stricter checks and protocols, as well as conducting regular maintenance and upgrades can help prevent future outages for Optus.

Update:

Around 4.05 am on a Wednesday, the Optus network received changes to routing information from an international peering network. These changes, meant to optimise internet traffic flow, spread through the network’s infrastructure, overwhelming key routers. Details about these changes and the contractor responsible for the faulty settings were not disclosed by Optus.

As a result of the changes, these routers disconnected from the Optus IP Core network to protect themselves, causing a rare “flood” phenomenon. Matt Tett, the managing director of Enex TestLab, told the AFR that such incidents are extremely rare, occurring only three or four times in the three decades of the technology’s use.

What is a network ‘flood’?

Uncontrolled network flooding refers to a situation where a network is overwhelmed with an excessive amount of traffic, causing it to become congested or even unusable. This type of flooding occurs when there is an unexpected and significant increase in network traffic that exceeds the network’s capacity to handle it.

Flooding is commonly associated with malicious activity such as:

• Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks: In a DoS attack, an attacker deliberately floods a network with traffic to overwhelm its resources, making it difficult or impossible for legitimate users to access the network services.
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks: DDoS attacks involve multiple compromised computers (often forming a botnet) attacking a target simultaneously, flooding the network with traffic from different sources.

In the case of Optus, it was nothing malicious, just a misconfigured software update.

The consequences of uncontrolled network flooding can include degraded network performance, service outages, and in some cases, a complete loss of network connectivity. In the case of Optus, a total network outage.

Network administrators use various techniques, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and traffic filtering, to mitigate the impact of uncontrolled flooding and protect the network from such occurrences.

What actually happened?

The Optus Outage refers to a deep network outage that caused nationwide disruption to internet and phone services.

Explanation of a ‘deep network’ outage

A ‘deep network’ outage refers to a significant fault within the core of the telecommunications infrastructure. Unlike a surface glitch or temporary technical issue, this deep-rooted problem can cause extensive disruptions in service.

Take for instance, the Optus outage which was traced back to a ‘deep fault’ within their system. Undeniably, such an incident leaves millions grappling with connectivity issues and service disruptions, affecting both phone and internet services nationwide.

Understanding how these outages occur is crucial as it sheds light on the methods employed by telecommunication companies to restore functionality swiftly and effectively.

Causes of the outage

The Optus outage, a huge communication breakdown, was triggered by a myriad of reasons:

1. A “deep fault” in the core network sparked this service disruption. This severe technical glitch disrupted the essential infrastructure, causing havoc.
2. Human error cannot be ruled out as a potential cause for this system malfunction. Lack of proper checks might have allowed mistakes to go undetected.
3. Despite denial from the CEO of Optus, possibilities of a major network upgrade triggering the fault still linger.
4. Though not directly stated, cyberattacks often lead to nationwide blackouts like this. However, no signs point towards such an incident in this case.
5. The operational error that caused such chaos has yet to be fully understood or identified.

Possible causes of the Optus Outage

There are several potential causes for the Optus Outage, including human error, faults in the core network, and network upgrades.

Human error

Faults in major networks like Optus can often stem from human error. A simple task overlooked or a minor miscalculation can set off a cascade of failures, bringing chaos to millions of customers.

In the case of the outage, it remains unclear if human error played any part but such factors cannot be entirely ruled out. Learning more about these possibilities helps us better understand how complex these network systems are and what measures need to be put in place to mitigate such disasters in future.

Fault in the core network

A “deep fault” in the core network triggered the Optus outage. Core networks are essential for routing internet and phone services. A glitch in this critical area can cause a cascade of failure throughout the entire system, leading to a nationwide blackout like the Optus service outage.

The exact nature of this deep fault remains undisclosed, leaving millions puzzled about what led to their disrupted connectivity. Despite initial assumptions, it is now known that no major network upgrade instigated the communication breakdown.

Network upgrades

Network upgrades are vital in maintaining the smooth running of services. Optus chief executive has dispelled suggestions that a significant upgrade to the network was behind the recent outage.

Despite this, some industry experts aren’t ruling out that maintenance or enhancements might have unintentionally disrupted their systems.

Expanding and enhancing networks sometimes involve a few complications along the way due to intricate technical processes. However, these glitches shouldn’t precipitate widespread network failures like Optus’ nationwide blackout if proper protocols are ahead of time put into place.

Regardless of assurances from Optus officials, consumers continue expressing concerns over whether future upgrades could lead to similar service disruptions.

Impact of the Optus Outage

The Optus Outage had a significant impact, disrupting services and causing frustration and inconvenience for customers.

Disruption to services

Unprecedented chaos rattled millions of Australians as the Optus network suffered a nationwide blackout. Approximately 10 million people were plunged into a communication breakdown due to the sudden connectivity issue.

The deep network fault caused internet and phone services to come crashing down, creating inconvenience on a grand scale. Emergency calls dropped out and customers couldn’t make any calls or access their data during this service disruption period.

Businesses also bore the brunt of this operational error as most transactions came to an abrupt halt, revealing just how much we rely on these networks in our day-to-day lives.

Frustration and inconvenience for customers

The impact on Optus clients during the outage was significant, causing nationwide disruption. Up to 10 million people found themselves abruptly disconnected from crucial communication services such as the internet and phone lines.

Customers faced a cascade of failures leading to chaos which posed serious challenges for businesses, emergency services, and everyday activities like booking a taxi or ordering food online.

An unexpected blackout in service of this magnitude caused collective stress among users who struggled with connectivity issues. The inefficiency of customer support intensified consumers’ dissatisfaction as they sought solutions and information about the network downtime.

A flawlessly functioning infrastructure is something that most customers expect; hence, sudden technical glitches can lead to high levels of frustration and inconvenience particularly when communication breakdown is involved – it’s not just an operational error or system malfunction but a threat to our modern-day lifestyle reliant on digital networks.

Calls for the CEO to Resign

The CEO of Optus, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, has been under fire for poor communication during the outage. Following her poor management of the cyber attack last year, it is likely that there will be yet more calls for her to stand down. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin called last year’s cyber attack ‘sophisticated‘ despite some analysis suggesting it was simply an exploit of an unsecured API. That cyber attack led to the theft of personal details such as birthdates and driver’s licence numbers of almost 40% of the entire Australian population.

This week’s outage will no doubt lead to a significant erosion of Optus’ market share and be a massive hit to its brand equity. Who in the leadership team will take responsibility for this significant destruction of shareholder wealth and step down?

How can Optus prevent future outages?

Optus can prevent future outages by implementing stricter checks and protocols, as well as conducting regular maintenance and upgrades.

Implementing stricter checks and protocols

Optus can prevent future outages by implementing stricter checks and protocols. This means conducting regular inspections and audits to identify any potential issues or vulnerabilities in their network.

By enforcing rigorous standards and procedures, Optus can ensure that their systems are operating at optimal levels and minimise the risk of future outages. Additionally, they should establish robust protocols for incident response and emergency management, allowing them to quickly address any problems that may arise.

With these stricter checks and protocols in place, Optus can better safeguard against disruptions to their services and provide a more reliable experience for their customers.

Regular maintenance and upgrades

Regular maintenance and upgrades are crucial for preventing future outages and ensuring the smooth operation of Optus’ network. This includes:

• Conducting regular inspections to identify and fix any potential issues before they cause disruptions.
• Updating software and firmware to ensure optimal performance and security.
• Upgrading hardware components to keep up with increasing demand and technological advancements.
• Implementing redundancy measures to minimise the impact of failures in critical systems.
• Collaborating with industry experts to stay updated on best practices and emerging technologies.
• Investing in training programs to ensure that staff are equipped with the necessary skills to handle maintenance and upgrades effectively.

Conclusion

The real cause of the Optus outage was a “deep fault” in the network, as reported by Optus and confirmed by Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. Despite speculation of a cyberattack or major network upgrade, these claims were denied.

Millions of Optus customers were left without phone and internet services due to this deep fault, causing frustration and inconvenience. Steps are now being taken to restore services and improve customer support in the aftermath of the outage.

“After not being in the employment market for an extended period of time my CV and value proposition needed some work. Following the quick and easy CV review by Executive Agents the response from recruiters and for interviews improved drastically.

Highly recommended.”


Download now

Would you also like to get appointed to a board?

Let us do the work for you! Get the Board Director Pack.

Perfect for people who want powerful personal branding combined with an impeccable board profile CV, LinkedIn profile, and covering letter for powerful board applications.