Submitted via IRC for boru
O2 network restored after Ericsson software outage left millions without 4G data access
O2 has blamed a global software problem for a network outage that has left frustrated customers without access to the internet and 4G services.
Mobile network O2 says its services have been restored after a technical fault left millions of customers unable to get online. The company said it would be closely monitoring data services over the coming days and promised to carry out a review to understand what went wrong. British customers reported not being able to use mobile data to access the internet and the operator's network on Thursday after disruption began at about 5am.
takyon: The problem was due to an expired software certificate.
Also at BBC, The Guardian, Forbes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @07:31PM
They were taken off line to prevent another Brexit-like incident. That strange Doctor Who was about to suggest that Parliament just exit the earth. It isn't clear which world Who wanted to infest with Brits, but CNN is working hard to get the full story.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @07:45PM (3 children)
If an expired software certificate is the cause, then it is not a software outage. If that were true, then you could similarly blame the traffic light for every driver running the red light.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Friday December 07 2018, @08:45PM (2 children)
Disagree. It's an outage. Anytime you have such things, like dongles, certificates, DRM, serial numbers, etc., and they are for a set period of time, then you are leasing the software. You're not the owner, and you have no power (unless you pirate it or destroy their measures of control).
Somebody screwed up and didn't kowtow to Ericsson at the regularly scheduled reminder that it is Ericsson's software.
Sorry, but this is why Open Source / FOSS is going to take over. All of the software I work has no such things in it, and the few things I have serial numbers for, continue working without it. Just 48 hours ago I was servicing an IP-PBX, and the WHOLE REASON it couldn't start the services was an SSL error when it phone homed confirming the license for the free fucking software. Needless to say I recommended the client switch to a new system, or continue to be at the mercy of some other IT person in a company keeping up on their license servers 24/7/365. Licensing should never affect uptime, but it is designed to do exactly that. To force customers to pony up the cash on a regular basis with the threat of down systems. That is problematic when the systems of enforcement themselves can go down, and the default action is to not start services.
All these reasons and more, is why you stay away from proprietary software. It will at some point fuck up your ability to service your customers, just like it did for O2 here.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 07 2018, @09:49PM (1 child)
ssl cert expiration as no relationship to the openness of the software using the cert
(Score: 2) by edIII on Saturday December 08 2018, @02:22AM
Where does it mention SSL anywhere in the TFA? It says specifically software certificate. I would imagine those are revocable and controllable by Ericsson. Not every certificate is specifically for SSL. If using SSL, it's not impossible to effect such a system when in control of your own CA. It's not like SSL isn't setup to process revocation either (although it specifically says expired).
If the problem really was the software phoning home to a cluster of services with an expired cert, than I agree with you. If it's not SSL, or if their certs were being used differently, then there is something else going on. The TFA still doesn't mention SSL.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 5, Funny) by archfeld on Saturday December 08 2018, @05:02AM
I got a service call from an old snowbird couple from Canada, their "internet" was gone. After trying to talk the through the obvious and simple things like was your computer plugged in and turned on, did their modem have lights on it, I resolved to make a house call. After going through numerous scenarios such as testing the adaptor, checking the wireless router, the cable modem. I asked how do you get to the internet which turned out to revolve around the iPhone as a hotspot and a pay by the GB AT&T cell program that had exhausted their minutes dues to a news app they had downloaded that did updates 24 hours a day for 5 days and reached its cap. No notice on the phones nor any interruption of cell service just no data transfer of any sort.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge