When mobile network failed
There was a major outage of wireless from Rogers today, one of the top 3 leading telecom service provider in Canada. Thankfully, internet was working and people could use WhatsApp, skype or Microsoft Teams for calling.
Many of us rely on cellphones at home and have got rid of landlines.
The impact was massive which shows how we have become slaves to technology. This is another example of what I referred in my article on ‘Are you Artificial Intelligent’
Multi Factor Authentication failure: One of the key security measure implemented by banks, financial institutes and many of the secure applications is multifactor authentication. In this, we use a PIN sent to our phones through text message. With no wireless network, this service was down and I could not login to my bank and broker accounts. People booking Covid vaccination could not call or have text message confirmation. For those on the road, they were without network and data — just like decades back when we were using land line phones.
A small technical glitch brought a big impact to businesses and individuals. The 911 emergency calls could not be handled due to no cellular network— impacting people requiring emergency service.
What if wireless network is hacked?
It will be the same situation I experienced today when my network was down:
a) Cannot call anyone unless there is WiFi
b) While outside the WiFi network we are in same situation as we were decades ago when there were no mobiles.
c) We cannot access useful information requiring security code delivered on phone
Cyber threats lead to the innovation of authentication through cellphone but we need to think of multiple levels of failures to have a better. This reminds me the ‘theory of 5 whys’. If it fails what is the next options ? If we can take it to 5 levels, we will have many alternatives.
Advances to 5G and fiber networks or high data speeds become useless if we loose basic cellular network for the whole day. Let us understand to develop innovative technologies with strong basics, keeping failure in mind. We have seen cyber attacks on giants like Microsoft, Amazon and large banks and government institutions. Every failure is a trigger for bigger learning just as we saw during pandemic times. As long as we learn and innovate keeping our basics strong we are on the right path.
It’s fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure — Bill Gates
