No, nope … I think incompetence covers it. O course they will say they tested it, that the servers should have handled the demand within their load sharing tolerances, that their systems are ‘world’s best practice’, and that it was all the fault of some completely unforeseeable glitch that nobody could have predicted.
These same excuses, or one’s pretty much approximating same, will no doubt be used when they have extensive (but ‘utterly unforeseeable’) breaches and loss of personal taxpayer data (now with names attached), that spawns an identity fraud on Australian taxpayers that will be unmatched in its severity until the next time they mess up with ‘serving the Australian public’ … but that’s pretty much par for the course. Thinking this would no doubt happen, I logged on and entered my data during the day … and had no problems completing the puppy. When dealing with Australian government ‘systems’, and ‘gateways’ and ‘portals', it pays to be a pessimist. Murphy is their CTO. Just my 2 cents worth … --- > On 9 Aug 2016, at 9:00 PM, Roger Clarke <[email protected]> wrote: > > [Declaration: I've been knee-deep in the policy aspects of the Census since > March. But this question is specifically about the technical aspects of the > site.] > > The comprehensiveness of the debacle during the evening of the Census seems > to me to challenge the normal presumption that you choose incompetence over > vindictiveness. > > I'm not so much suggesting that either ABS insiders or IBM staff might have > indulged in sabotage. (Now that *would* be significant!). But I'm wondering > whether some skilled hackers might have done so. > > Alright, allow for both, e.g.: > (1) inadequate implementation and hence easily-found vulnerabilities, and > (2) script-kiddies using mainstream attack tools. > (Apologies if I'm using dated terminology). > > In case they're of use for the purposes of collaborative post-debacle > sleuthing, a couple of snapshots are below. > > Two aspects of the whois listing are contributors to my suspicions: >> Updated 23 minutes ago > The snapshot was taken c. 20:30 UT+10 > OTOH, Last Modified shows 22-Mar-2016 05:20:10 UTC >> DNSSEC: unsigned > > Okay, given that the traceroutes to *both* DNS-servers get nowhere fast, > there's a possibility that some of the nearby networks weren't scaled for the > hammering that they got this evening? (Self-inflicted DDOS?). > > But, as linkers know, I'm not very good once we get under the bonnet ... > > ________ > > > ; <<>> DiG 9.3.6-APPLE-P2 <<>> abs.gov.au any > ;; global options: printcmd > ;; Got answer: > ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 48375 > ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 3, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 2 > > ;; QUESTION SECTION: > ;abs.gov.au. IN ANY > > ;; ANSWER SECTION: > abs.gov.au. 3846 IN A 144.53.228.30 > abs.gov.au. 2089 IN NS ns1.abs.gov.au. > abs.gov.au. 2089 IN NS ns1.telstra.net. > > ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: > abs.gov.au. 2089 IN NS ns1.telstra.net. > abs.gov.au. 2089 IN NS ns1.abs.gov.au. > > ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: > ns1.abs.gov.au. 6397 IN A 144.53.226.90 > ns1.telstra.net. 54738 IN A 139.130.4.5 > > ;; Query time: 17 msec > ;; SERVER: 192.168.2.1#53(192.168.2.1) > ;; WHEN: Tue Aug 9 20:28:38 2016 > ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 151 > > _____________ > > http://www.whois.com/whois/abs.gov.au > abs.gov.au registry whois > > Updated 23 minutes ago - Refresh > > Domain Name: abs.gov.au > Last Modified: 22-Mar-2016 05:20:10 UTC > Status: ok > Registrar Name: Digital Transformation Office > > Registrant: Australian Bureau of Statistics > Registrant ID: OTHER n/a > Eligibility Type: Other > > Registrant Contact ID: GOVAU-WAAR1000 > Registrant Contact Name: Duncan Anderson > Registrant Contact Email: Visit whois.ausregistry.com.au for Web based > WhoIs > > Tech Contact ID: GOVAU-WAAR1001 > Tech Contact Name: Duncan Anderson > Tech Contact Email: Visit whois.ausregistry.com.au for Web based > WhoIs > > Name Server: ns1.telstra.net > Name Server: ns1.abs.gov.au > Name Server IP: 144.53.226.90 > DNSSEC: unsigned > > _______________ > > traceroute to 139.130.4.5 (139.130.4.5), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets > 1 ------------ 0.813 ms 0.350 ms 0.347 ms > 2 ------------ 0.773 ms 1.420 ms 5.011 ms > 3 ------------ 14.454 ms 14.832 ms 14.789 ms > 4 ------------ 14.553 ms 16.984 ms 14.401 ms > 5 ------------ 14.413 ms 14.615 ms 14.066 ms > 6 te2-0-0.bdr1.cbr1.on.ii.net (59.167.21.185) 14.343 ms 15.494 ms 14.233 > ms > 7 xe-0-3-0-202.cr1.adl6.on.ii.net (150.101.33.196) 15.073 ms 16.102 ms > 16.001 ms > 8 ae0.cr1.cbr2.on.ii.net (150.101.33.7) 16.761 ms 14.979 ms 14.643 ms > 9 ae2.br1.syd4.on.ii.net (150.101.33.22) 18.526 ms 21.261 ms 18.534 ms > 10 203.8.176.5 (203.8.176.5) 20.021 ms 19.026 ms 19.636 ms > 11 bundle-ether13.ken-edge902.sydney.telstra.net (139.130.214.101) 18.918 > ms 19.201 ms 21.643 ms > 12 bundle-ether14.ken-core10.sydney.telstra.net (203.50.11.96) 21.073 ms > 19.223 ms 23.181 ms > 13 gigabitethernet5-1.pit-service2.sydney.telstra.net (203.50.20.124) > 21.935 ms 19.090 ms 19.341 ms > 14 * * * > 15 * * * > 16 * * > > ______________ > > traceroute to 144.53.226.90 (144.53.226.90), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets > 1 ----------- 10.976 ms 0.992 ms 0.361 ms > 2 ----------- 1.148 ms 1.019 ms 3.286 ms > 3 ----------- 15.018 ms 13.977 ms 14.045 ms > 4 ----------- 24.397 ms 14.901 ms 14.519 ms > 5 ----------- 17.593 ms 14.193 ms 16.235 ms > 6 te2-0-0.bdr1.cbr1.on.ii.net (59.167.21.185) 14.313 ms 14.582 ms 14.794 > ms > 7 xe-0-3-0-202.cr1.adl6.on.ii.net (150.101.33.196) 15.105 ms 14.726 ms > 14.874 ms > 8 ae0.cr1.cbr2.on.ii.net (150.101.33.7) 19.050 ms 14.960 ms 17.762 ms > 9 ae2.br1.syd4.on.ii.net (150.101.33.22) 22.196 ms 26.937 ms 44.181 ms > 10 * 203.8.176.5 (203.8.176.5) 18.987 ms 28.516 ms > 11 syd-optus.gw.aapt.net.au (203.8.183.45) 18.684 ms 18.918 ms 19.162 ms > 12 * * * > 13 * * * > 14 * * * > 15 * * * > 16 * * 59.154.142.208 (59.154.142.208) 23.464 ms > 17 * 119.225.50.190 (119.225.50.190) 25.832 ms * > 18 * * * > 19 * * * > 20 * * * > 21 119.225.50.190 (119.225.50.190) 32.199 ms 32.096 ms 32.018 ms > 22 * * * > 23 * * * > 24 * * * > > [Is this a loop I see before me?] > > ______________ > > -- > Roger Clarke http://www.rogerclarke.com/ > > Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA > Tel: +61 2 6288 6916 http://about.me/roger.clarke > mailto:[email protected] http://www.xamax.com.au/ > > Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W. > Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University > _______________________________________________ > Link mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
