Image: Clock from the Daily Planet (RNT Foundation)
What’s new: Information about a major network failure in Australia due to a timing problem.
Why it’s important:
- Networks and timing are essential to any number of mission critical functions and critical infrastructures.
- Larger timing failures, such as a problem with GPS reception due to malicious, natural, or accidental disruption, could be catastrophic for a nation.
- Russia, China, the U.S. and likely others could intentionally inflict such failures by interfering with GNSS signals.
What else to know:
- This was a telco problem but look at the non-teleco areas impacted.
- Every nation needs a resilient PNT architecture, at least one part of which is under its sovereign control.
- The RNT Foundation is pleased to have Allison Kealy and Swinburne University of Technology as members.
A timing glitch was behind Telstra’s nationwide outage. It points to a bigger vulnerability
Professor of Computer Networking, University of Technology Sydney
Director, Innovative Planet Institute, Swinburne University of Technology
Telstra experienced a second major network fault after yesterday’s nationwide outage, with the telco confirming late last night that some calls, including to Triple Zero, were not going through.
At a press conference this afternoon, Michael Ackland, Telstra’s Chief Financial Officer, apologised for the disruption. He said the company had completed 639 welfare checks on people who tried to call emergency services, and that seven people required assistance.
Yesterday’s outage crippled more than just people’s ability to make calls. It also brought down train services, payment systems, public transport ticketing systems and electric vehicle charging stations.
