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An update on Facebook’s routers that coordinate network traffic went wrong on Monday, October 4. It sent a wave of disruption, effectively blacking out Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram. But, what can we learn from this blackout? Continue reading this article!
“From a technical point of view, they’re going to have to review what they do and how they have designed things,” cybersecurity expert Barrett Lyin said in an interview with NPR.
The outage cost the company tens of millions of dollars when comparing its lost hours with its most recent revenue report. This blackout stands as one of Facebook’s worst setbacks since the 2019 incident that got the platform in total shutdown for 24 hours which also attributed to a change in Facebook’s server configuration.
The Facebook outage lasted an entire working day, leaving some businesses rattled and frustrated online. Many people use WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook to share pictures and videos with their families and friends. In contrast, many other businesses use Facebook as a primary tool for marketing, advertising, and connecting with customers to sell products and services.
When this incident happened, businesses suffered along with it. The platform, along with WhatsApp and Instagram. The network came crashing down. It was not a hack, Facebook informed, but a self-inflicted problem. The routers that coordinate network traffic went wrong, sending a wave of disruptions rippling through the systems, resulting in Facebook globally shutting down.
What is the lesson learned? All online businesses should consider cyber security to keep their content safe because who knows what can happen next!
Here are the top tips to protect your online business:
- Use a VPN if you are accessing your systems over a public or insecure network.
- Make regular backups of your critical systems and data. Keep copies securely off-site and check that they are working correctly.
- If you operate a Wi-Fi network, make sure to change the Wi-Fi passwords regularly.
- Apply new security patches for your operating system, web browser, and all other software on your devices to them secured. You can set the software to auto-update or download the software patches manually.
- Use a firewall and check that your internet router has the latest firmware installed.
- Install and update anti-virus software on all your devices.
- Use strong passwords and change them regularly. Always consider using two-factor authentication for more security.
- Use different passwords for different websites or consider using a password management tool.
- Encrypt any sensitive data and do not send passwords or any other sensitive data via email unencrypted.
You can also consider other standard cyber security measures to help you increase the resilience of your business. Cybersecurity is crucial because it protects all the data categories from theft and damage, including sensitive data, personal information, intellectual property, data, and all kinds of data related to any type of business.
Around 60% of data breaches occur on compromised third parties, so most data breach incidents can be avoided by shutting down vendor data leaks. Always remember to invest in tools that limit information loss, monitor your third-party risk and fourth-party vendor risk, and always scan for any data exposure.
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