Users of the world’s largest Social Network Facebook took to Twitter to vent their frustration on the difficulties they have been facing trying to log in using the hashtag #FacebookDown in the early hours of Thursday morning. The incident was reportedly flagged at 12:41 am Thursday, with other linked social networks such as Instagram and Whatsapp also being effected. Whatsapp was still having problems 17 hours on from when the outage was first flagged!
Facebook was down for approximately 2.5 hours receiving reportedly the worst outrage in 4 years! The problems for users stretched beyond 14 hours, and users found themselves unable to connect to social media for 8 hours. The reason for this incident was due to the automated system for verifying configuration values which ended up causing more damage than it fixed. The statistics of the most reported problems were:
Login – 41%
Total blackout – 31%
Pictures – 27 %
Instagram users also reported problems accessing their newsfeed content, taking to Twitter with the trending hashtag #TwitterDown.
Frustrated users such as Lindsay Lohan tweeted: “@Instagram please contact me”, others tweeting they were to join Facebook’s enemy network Twitter, “#FacebookDown… I guess it’s the perfect time to join @Twitter”.
Police jokingly issued a plea for users not to call them when it went down, ‘Unfortunately we cannot do anything about this because, you know, they’re based in America and we’re the Police. So please don’t call us to report this. Pretty please.’
The incident affected users all over the world including US, Japan, New Zealand and parts of Europe. Rumours were sparked that the problems were caused by a Denial-of-Service (DDOS) attack, which is caused when someone arranges for multiple computers to open a website. This then stops the ability for everyone else to access the website as there is too much traffic flowing to it. This is the most common type of attack but there are many different types of DDOS attacks, such as a flood attack which is caused by too many people giving a system internet traffic (because people are trying to connect to it). Another is logic and software attacks caused by internet packets sent that are supposed to use bugs in the software or system. Luckily, Firewall and software patches usually can fix this problem.
Facebook quickly shut down the rumours tweeting ‘We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble accessing the Facebook family of apps. We’re working to resolve the issue as soon as possible’, and ‘We’re focused on working to resolve the issue as soon as possible, but can confirm that the issue is not related to a DDoS attack.’
Most users saw the funny side though, one tweeting:
@Jonny_LDN “The date is March 14th 2019. 24hrs after #facebookdown Nobody remembers how to reach loved ones or eat food without posting updates and the global economy has collapsed. The few Facebook users that migrated to twitter were among the lucky few to once again connect.”
Others were rather angry…
“Some people have a part of their business on FB. Social media is a huge advertising platform. Imagine paying for adds to be running and knowing no one can see them.”
How did #FacebookDown affect you?
Let us know on Twitter @07_heaven_
For further insights and guidance, we invite you to explore our blog at 07hm.co.uk/blog. Here, you’ll find a wealth of information tailored to the needs and challenges of SMEs navigating the digital landscape. Additionally, if you have specific questions or need personalised advice, don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email at info@07hm.co.uk or telephone on 01702 410663.
