IT Baseline Protection Manual - The Information Warfare Site

Threats Catalogue - Force Majeure Remarks
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T 1.2 Failure of the IT system
Failure of a single component in an IT system can result in failure of the entire
IT operation. Such failures are especially likely to occur where faults develop
in components which are central to the IT system, e.g. air-conditioning, power
supply, LAN server or data transmission facilities.
Technical failure (e.g. T 4.1 Disruption of power supply) should not
necessarily be assumed to be the cause when an IT system fails. Failures are
often also the result of human error (e.g. T 3.2 Negligent destruction of
equipment or data) or wilful action (e.g. T 5.4 Theft). Loss or damage may
also be caused by force majeure (e.g. fire, lightning, chemical accident),
although in such cases the scale of the damage is likely to be considerably
higher.
If any time-critical IT applications are run on an IT system, the consequential
damage following a system failure may be expected to be extensive unless
there are alternatives available.
Examples
- Due to voltage spikes in the power supply, the power unit for an important
IT system is destroyed. As the IT system concerned is an older model,
replacement parts are not available immediately. Repairs take a whole day
to perform and during this time the entire IT operation is at a standstill.
- Firmware is imported onto an IT system for which it is unsuited. The IT
system will no longer start without errors and has to be repaired by the
manufacturer.
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IT-Baseline Protection Manual: Otober 2000