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TELECOM Digest Sun, 7 Jan 2007 01:15:00 EST Volume 26 : Issue 007
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat (Monty Solomon)
Tips for Protecting the Home Computer (Monty Solomon)
Re: EarthLink CEO Dead at Age 49 (Curtis R Anderson)
Re: Verizon to Offer TV Shows on Cellphones (Steven J. Sobol)
Re: The Best Phone Company in America (Steven J. Sobol)
Re: Skype as a Replacement For My Phone (Mr Joseph Singer)
Re: Should Kids Have Cell Phones in School? (Steven J. Sobol)
From Our Archives: Great AT&T Outage, Jan, 1990 (TELECOM Digest Editor)
====== 25 years of TELECOM Digest -- Founded August 21, 1981 ======
Telecom and VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Digest for the
Internet. All contents here are copyrighted by Patrick Townson and
the individual writers/correspondents. Articles may be used in other
journals or newsgroups, provided the writer's name and the Digest are
included in the fair use quote. By using -any name or email address-
included herein for -any- reason other than responding to an article
herein, you agree to pay a hundred dollars to the recipients of the
email.
===========================
Addresses herein are not to be added to any mailing list, nor to be
sold or given away without explicit written consent. Chain letters,
viruses, porn, spam, and miscellaneous junk are definitely unwelcome.
We must fight spam for the same reason we fight crime: not because we
are naive enough to believe that we will ever stamp it out, but because
we do not want the kind of world that results when no one stands
against crime. Geoffrey Welsh
===========================
See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details
and the name of our lawyer; other stuff of interest, and why not
support Net Freedom Now http://www.freepress.net/netfreedom .
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 17:56:54 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Attack of the Zombie Computers Is a Growing Threat, Experts Say
By JOHN MARKOFF
The New York Times
In their persistent quest to breach the Internet's defenses, the bad
guys are honing their weapons and increasing their firepower.
With growing sophistication, they are taking advantage of programs
that secretly install themselves on thousands or even millions of
personal computers, band these computers together into an unwitting
army of zombies, and use the collective power of the dragooned network
to commit Internet crimes.
These systems, called botnets, are being blamed for the huge spike in
spam that bedeviled the Internet in recent months, as well as fraud
and data theft.
Security researchers have been concerned about botnets for some time
because they automate and amplify the effects of viruses and other
malicious programs.
What is new is the vastly escalating scale of the problem - and the
precision with which some of the programs can scan computers for
specific information, like corporate and personal data, to drain money
from online bank accounts and stock brokerages.
Tips for Protecting the Home Computer
Botnet programs and other malicious software largely take aim at PCs
running the Microsoft Windows operating system, because Windows'
ubiquity makes it fertile ground for network-based attacks.
Using a non-Windows-based PC may be one defense against these
programs, known as malware; also, anti-malware programs and antivirus
utilities for the PC are available from several vendors.
Microsoft entered the computer-security business last year and now
offers a free malware-removal tool for download from its Web site.
The company says the program removes about two million pieces of
malware each month, of which 200,000, or about 10 percent, are botnet
infections.
Like Windows, Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser is also a large,
convenient target for code-writing vandals. Alternative browsers, like
Firefox and Opera, may insulate users. Microsoft's most recent browser
release, Internet Explorer 7, is said to offer significantly improved
defenses.
Adding software to your browser like Noscript, a plug-in utility, can
limit the ability of remote programs to run potentially damaging
programs on your PC.
Security experts also offer these tips:
Don't share your computer (on which you pay your bills) with your
children (who download games).
Use a firewall program that warns you about outgoing connections
that botnets make to communicate with control software.
Don't use the same password on more than one financial site.
Don't let your browser store your password for such sites.
Don't buy anything offered by a spammer.
Don't click if someone offers you something too good to be true. It is.
Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 18:10:35 -0500
From: Curtis R Anderson <gleepy@gleepy.net>
Organization: Gleepy's Chaotic Henhouse
Subject: Re: EarthLink CEO Dead at Age 49
Henry Cabot Henhouse III wrote:
> Pat --
> Another Scientologist bites the dust. Big loss to humanity!
>> Garry Betty, the president and chief executive of EarthLink Inc., has
>> died from complications of cancer, the Internet service provider said
>> Wednesday. He was 49.
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: How do you know he was into Scientology?
> Did the church ever announce him as such, or did he ever speak on
> the topic? PAT]
It was Earthlink founder Sky Dayton who was into Scientology.
Curtis R. Anderson, Co-creator of "Gleepy the Hen", still
"In Heaven there is no beer / That's why we drink it here ..."
http://www.gleepy.net/ mailto:gleepy@intelligencia.com
mailto:gleepy@gleepy.net (and others) Yahoo!: gleepythehen
------------------------------
From: Steven J. Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Verizon to Offer TV Shows on Cellphones
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 19:29:32 UTC
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com
In article <telecom26.6.1@telecom-digest.org>, Reuters News Wire wrote:
> The programs would be among the first full-length television shows to
> be offered to cellular subscribers in the United States, the Times
> said. The deal could help make mobile phones more competitive with
> Apple Computer's iPod, after Apple said in 2005 it would offer shows
> from the ABC network for sale, the paper added.
Alright. Now the handset manufacturers just need to start releasing
phones with 15" screens. :)
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
------------------------------
From: Steven J. Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: The Best Phone Company in America
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 19:32:10 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com
In article <telecom26.6.7@telecom-digest.org>, Steven Lichter wrote:
> Cox and Time-Warner got into telephones years before the others, so it
> would not surprise me that they would build backup systems. I had a
> friend of mine that went to work for Time-Warner in south Riverside
> county; he was telephone company trained.
But Verizon and its predecessors were in the phone business long
before Cox or Time Warner, and they make you buy your own battery
backup ...
I think it's not a "we have more of a clue because we've been
providing phone service longer" thing, it's a "we'll differentiate
ourselves by spending some extra money so we can better service the
customer" thing.
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 19:27:27 PST
From: Mr Joseph Singer <joeofseattle@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Skype as a Replacement For My Phone
dterrors@hotmail.com on 5 Jan 2007 11:59:06 -0800 wrote:
> Can I drop my phone service and use Skype instead? The Skype site
> says "Skype is not a replacement for your ordinary telephone" But
> why not?
> Has anyone done that?
The reason they say that it is not is among things that it's not as
robust as regular telephone service. If you lose your internet
connection for any number of reasons you no longer have VOiP service
either. It also cannot connect to your local 911 emergency reporting
service as well.
------------------------------
From: Steven J. Sobol <sjsobol@JustThe.net>
Subject: Re: Should Kids Have Cell Phones in School?
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2007 19:45:26 +0000 (UTC)
Organization: Glorb Internet Services, http://www.glorb.com
In article <telecom26.6.6@telecom-digest.org>, Rick Merrill wrote:
> Plus kids can call for rides more efficiently!
> On the down side phones can be a big time waster and a distraction.
> Some localities are considering a bank of tiny lockers outside the
> school where each kid puts his cell phone before entering the school
> (and going through the security check).
We just got a phone for our teenage girl. It's great because it offers
safety and convenience.
But she'd better not ever have it turned on during school.
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 2007 00:49:48 -0500 (EST)
From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (TELECOM Digest Editor)
Subject: From Our Archives: The Great AT&T Outage, January, 1990
Remembering the great AT&T outage from seventeen years ago this month,
in January, 1990; here are a few messages from the middle of January
that year. PAT]
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 0:02:11 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #29
Message-ID: <9001160002.aa30554@delta.eecs.nwu.edu>
TELECOM Digest Tue, 16 Jan 90 00:00:02 CST Volume 10 : Issue 29
Today's Topics: Moderator: Patrick Townson
Nationwide Long-Distance Outage (Rich Kulawiec)
Who's Using Whom? (John Higdon)
[Moderator's Note: Our Usenet gateway machine, accuvax@nwu.edu has
been down for three days, and the Digest is not making it out to the
comp.dcom.telecom newsgroup right now. When accuvax is back in service
the unsent messages will be distributed. Please advise any Usenetters
you may know of the problem. Thanks. PT]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 16:17:29 MST
From: Rich Kulawiec <rsk@oldfield.cs.colostate.edu>
Subject: Nationwide Long-Distance Outage
CNN is reporting that AT&T says that some sort of major disruption of
long-distance service started around 2:30 pm EST today. I've been
unable to reach area codes 415, 317, 213, and 312; each attempt yields
an "all circuits are busy" recording. CNN says that AT&T does not
know the source of the trouble.
Rich Kulawiec
[Moderator's Note: As of 10 PM CST Monday night (as I am typing this),
WGN-TV is interviewing an AT&T spokesperson who says the source of the
problem is not yet known, but it is believed to be a software glitch.
The problem is nationwide, resulting in many (most?) calls reaching an
intercept message, 'Your call did not go through' (here in Chicago).
The spokesperson said they are working frantically on the problem, but
may not have service entirely restored before 'sometime Tuesday'.
About half of my calls completed okay Monday evening, the other half
failed. The network failure has caused considerable congestion on
MCI/Sprint lines; and of course, as Higdon points out in the next
message, some alternate carriers in fact use AT&T circuits for some of
their calls. PT]
------------------------------
Subject: Who's Using Whom?
Reply-To: John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com>
Organization: Green Hills and Cows
Date: 15 Jan 90 14:14:09 PST (Mon)
From: John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com>
AT&T long distance has been severely disrupted today in the Bay Area
due to a major cable cut, according to an AT&T operator I talked to.
Why is this of any interest? Well, it seems that Sprint is down as
well. Why? Sprint leases facilities from AT&T. So all of the ballyhoo
about Sprint's fiber optics is, to some degree, actually AT&T's fiber
optics.
Sort of reminds one of the old story about how all gasoline comes from
the same delivery truck. We have all of the advertising about product
differentiation, and it turns out that aspirin is aspirin after all.
So Sprint's advanced fiber optic network is, at least in part, AT&T's
fiber optic network. Well, well. It is amazing what you can learn
about someone when his pants are down!
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
[Moderator's Note: I really think the operator you interviewed spoke
without full knowledge of the circumstances of the outage; that is,
unless by coincidence there was also a major cable problem out there
as well as the nationwide network problem. PT]
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 90 0:25:27 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #30
Message-ID: <9001170025.aa01616@delta.eecs.nwu.edu>
TELECOM Digest Wed, 17 Jan 90 00:25:19 CST Volume 10 : Issue 30
Today's Topics: Moderator: Patrick Townson
AT&T Reliability (System Administrator)
Reporting of the AT&T Outage (David Tamkin)
Reach Out and Touch Someone? (Al Donaldson)
Re: Nationwide Long Distance Outage (Bill Berbenich)
Re: Who's Using Whom? (John McHarry)
Re: Who's Using Whom? (John Higdon)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: AT&T Reliability
Reply-To: John Higdon <john@zygot.ati.com>
Organization: Green Hills and Cows
Date: 15 Jan 90 21:45:45 PST (Mon)
From: System Administrator <root@zygot.ati.com>
It appears that AT&T has solved their "software" problem, since calls
now go through. Their original statement about a cable cut was
certainly an understatement.
My question is this: what about those 800 customers who were promised
(in all the TV ads) that if for any reason their 800 number went down,
they would bring it up on one of their other lines within one hour.
There are an awful lot of 800 numbers around here that were down all
day without being restored on POTS lines, mainly, of course, because
the entire network was down. Any recouse available to the customers?
This whole mess sure points out the fact that even Mother has her
days!
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
------------------------------
From: David Tamkin <dattier@chinet.chi.il.us>
Subject: Reporting of the AT&T Outage
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 22:16:30 CST
One thing has caught my attention about news reports of Monday's AT&T
outage, whether on radio, on television, or in print: invariably
promotions for upcoming news about it and the first few sentences of
the item itself have talked about "problems for long-distance callers"
or "long-distance troubles." It's presented as a problem with
long-distance calling and then it segues to "AT&T spokespeople are
saying" or "according to AT&T" as if the two were one in the same.
Longer discussions of it get around to bringing up MCI and Sprint's
situations (being overloaded because AT&T customers were seeking
alternatives, for example), but most do not. Moreover, none
introduced the item as an AT&T-only problem, nor even as an AT&T
problem. It is called a long-distance problem with little or no
acknowledgment that "long distance" and "AT&T Long Distance" are not
synonymous these days.
David Tamkin PO Box 813 Rosemont IL 60018-0813 708-518-6769 312-693-0591
dattier@chinet.chi.il.us BIX: dattier GEnie: D.W.TAMKIN CIS: 73720,1570
[Moderator's Note: The {Chicago Sun-Times} had as their headline in
Tuesday's paper, "Calls Waiting!" and part of the human-interest side
of the story were interviews with business people -- particularly
telemarketing organizations -- who were pretty well out of action
Monday. The airline and hotel reservation people with their 800
numbers were also pretty hard hit by the events of the day. The
{Chicago Tribune} noted that AT&T spokespeople had *not* ruled out 'a
"computer virus" or act of sabatoge by a phreak unknown...' as the
source of their problem. PT]
------------------------------
From: Al Donaldson <vrdxhq!escom.com!al@uunet.uu.net>
Subject: Reach Out and Touch Someone?
Date: 16 Jan 90 04:05:48 GMT
Organization: ESCOM Corp., Oakton, VA
Word tonight that AT&T is having computer problems affecting
phone service nationwide. I can just see it now:
"Hello, Phoenix?"
"No, this is Fiji..."
Maybe they should spend more money on systems and less on advertising.
Al Donaldson
(ATT customer)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 90 10:33:37 EST
From: Bill Berbenich <bill@shannon>
Subject: Re: Nationwide Long Distance Outage
Does anyone know how AT&T is handling their 800 WATS customers
who are inaccessible as a result of this outage? I recall a television
ad which said something like 'if you are an AT&T 800 WATS
customer and there is an outage, we GUARANTEE that your service
will be restored within an hour.'
--Bill Berbenich
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 16 Jan 1990 18:40:07 EST
From: John McHarry <m21198@mwvm.mitre.org>
Subject: Re: Who's Using Whom?
John Higdon wrote in V10 #29 that US Sprint was unaccessable during
the AT&T outage yesterday due to their leasing facilities from AT&T.
I don't know the specific access arrangements in his area, but I
believe the following to be generally true. Carriers do lease trunks
to one another; however, these are non-switched services. I don't
think AT&T has a tariff for switched access carriage for other IECs.
(Not too sure on that one) If that is the case, unless there was
indeed a cable cut, the common mode failure lies elsewhere. Of
course, this leasing of trunks doesn't obviate US Sprint's claim
regarding an ALL fiber optic network if they lease only fiber optic
trunks. There doesn't seem to be any claim that other networks don't
have some, or even lots, of fiber trunks.
What may be interesting here is the possibility of a shared BOC-AT&T
switch being in the common path, eg. the access tandem. Unless I
misread an old copy of Notes on the BOC Intra LATA Networks, or things
have changed in the meantime, there are some switches that are either
BOC owned and used by AT&T or (the interesting case) AT&T owned and
used by the BOC. These are an artifact of the pre-1984 state of
affairs, and represent cases where the split could not be neatly made
on one side or the other of the switch. If Mr. Higdon's LATA is such
a case, then US Sprint could be receiving service from the LEC, but
with an AT&T owned and operated switch in the middle. In this case it
is the LEC that is providing service by leasing switch capacity from
AT&T. US Sprint might well be using all their own trunks to the point
of presence. Beyond that, they have no choice or control.
Of course, to the end user, this is cold comfort. If there is only
one access tandem, you have no protection from a failure affecting it.
I suppose large users could use direct trunks to two or more IECs,
but, in most cases, that sounds like overkill, especially given the
probablility of the failure being guarded against vs the probablility
of backhoe fade knocking down both trunk groups.
These are only my own speculations, of course, and don't necessarily
reflect the views of anyone else. If I have erred, I am sure I'll be
corrected. On second thought, omit the if clause.
***************************************************************
* John McHarry (703)883-6100 McHarry@MITRE.ORG *
***************************************************************
------------------------------
Reply-To: John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com>
Subject: Re: Who's Using Whom?
Date: 16 Jan 90 01:57:09 PST (Tue)
From: John Higdon <john@bovine.ati.com>
After writing:
> AT&T long distance has been severely disrupted today in the Bay Area
> due to a major cable cut, according to an AT&T operator I talked to.
The Telecom Moderator wrote:
> [Moderator's Note: I really think the operator you interviewed spoke
> without full knowledge of the circumstances of the outage;
That's, of course, an understatement. But it will be interesting to see
over the next few days and weeks how that AT&T PR department will
handle this one. It should also be fascinating to find out what the
*real* problem was, if it ever is to be known by the public.
John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395
john@bovine.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 90 22:16:01 CST
From: TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
Subject: TELECOM Digest V10 #31
Message-ID: <9001172216.aa08352@delta.eecs.nwu.edu>
TELECOM Digest Wed, 17 Jan 90 22:15:10 CST Volume 10 : Issue 31
Today's Topics: Moderator: Patrick Townson
Questions and Answers on Network Service (AT&T Public Relations Department)
Bulletin to Employees, re: Outage (AT&T Public Relations Department)
AT&T Operator Policy During Outage (Ken Jongsma)
The AT&T Problem (Ole J. Jacobsen)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: AT&T Public Relations via TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 90 14:12 EST
Subject: Questions and Answers on Network Service
[Moderator's Note: AT&T has provided the following questions and answers
regarding the outage. Another source of PR is 1-800-2ATT-NOW. PT]
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON NETWORK SERVICE ... The following should
provide answers to any additional questions employees have, and
also may be useful for salespeople in responding to customers'
concerns:
Q. How does this outage compare with others AT&T has
experienced?
A. This was the first event in which all network switches were
affected. Previous outages have been local or regional in nature,
caused by cable cuts, problems with individual offices, or natural
disasters.
Q. Could this happen to MCI or Sprint?
A. AT&T believes all carriers are potentially vulnerable to
software problems in their networks, and have acknowledged such
problems at one time or another.
Q. How does this outage compare with MCI's recent 800 service
outage?
A. Since AT&T and its competitors do not ordinarily share such
information, there is no way of comparing the two events.
Q. How did this outage affect customers?
A. There was a significant impact on customers nationwide on
their regular long-distance service, as well as business services
such as 800 and Software Defined Network services, which use
AT&T's public switched network. Private-line services were not
affected.
Q. Was AT&T able to honor customers' requests to have their 800
or other services terminated on another carrier's lines?
A. A few requests like this came in. However, AT&T was unable to
switch these customers because restoring the entire network to
normal operation was being given highest priority.
Q. Is it accurate that AT&T operators refused to give callers
access codes for other carriers?
A. That was true during the early part of the day. However,
authorization to give out codes was given later in the day in the
spirit of doing whatever was necessary to help customers complete
their calls.
Q. Was AT&T able to meet its service guarantees?
A. AT&T will honor its service assurance commitments on 800
service, even though the warranty doesn't cover this kind of
network event.
Q. Will AT&T adjust bills to help compensate for any
inconvenience customers may have experienced?
A. AT&T plans to file an emergency tariff with the Federal
Communications Commission that will permit the company to have a
special day of discounted calling, which will provide some
compensation for customers. The exact offer and date have not yet
been determined.
Q. Does AT&T have a liability to compensate customers for losses
sustained during the network problem?
A. No, but the company will honor the 800 service assurance
guarantee, and will look for other ways to demonstrate to
customers that it recognizes service expectations held by
customers and the company were not met during the problem.
Q. Does that mean AT&T may compensate individual customers for
their losses?
A. Something like that has to be determined on a case-by-case
basis.
Q. What was done to restore service on Monday?
A. A software override was used to stabilize the network, and
that restored full service by 11:30 p.m. EST on Monday. The fix
is working fine and enabling the network to handle full business-
day volume.
Q. What is being done to prevent this from happening again?
A. AT&T's most urgent priority is to assure that all AT&T
customers receive the world's most reliable telecommunications
service. Every technical resource available, including Bell Labs
scientists and engineers, has been devoted to assuring it will not
occur again. The chances of a recurrence are small--a problem of
this magnitude never occurred before. AT&T's engineers have
collected an enormous amount of data and are extensively analyzing
it.
Q. Does the outage put the lie to AT&T's claims of having the
world's most reliable network?
A. Not at all. Despite the fact that AT&T experienced an
unprecedented, nationwide service problem, millions of calls on
the network still went through. All switches continued to
function, and AT&T's software experts were able to put in fixes
that brought the network back to normal operation before the day
was out. AT&T is confident it has the technological and human
resources to meet unexpected contingencies.
Q. Are there plans for a promotion or advertising campaign to
reinforce the company's reliability image?
A. While something like that may be contemplated in the future,
the priority now is to ensure full service for all customers, and
to make sure the problem doesn't occur again.
Q. How many calls were completed on the day of the outage?
A. On a typical business day, 110 million calls are handled on
the network, with 80 million to 85 million completed. ("Handled"
means calls that receive busy signals, that are blocked, that the
caller decides in mid-call not to complete, etc.). On Jan. 15,
148 million calls were handled and 83 million of them were
completed--a call completion percentage of 56 percent. Some 35
million of the 83 million calls were completed during the outage
period.
------------------------------
From: AT&T Public Relations via TELECOM Moderator <telecom@eecs.nwu.edu>
Subject: Bulletin to Employees, re: Outage
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 90 14:00:00 EST
[Moderator's Note: Following is the full text of an all-employee
bulletin distributed Tuesday. PT]
AT&T NETWORK RESTORED AFTER TEMPORARY OUTAGE ... AT&T's public
switched network is functioning normally again after a suspected
signalling system problem cut call completion rates across the
country to slightly more than 50 percent yesterday.
AT&T Chairman Bob Allen and Network Services Division Senior
Vice President Ken Garrett held a press conference today from the
Network Operations Center in Bedminster, N.J., to explain the
situation. "Even though it was a one-time 'hit' to the network,
it was certainly the most far-reaching service problem we've ever
experienced," said Allen.
"We didn't live up to our customers' standards of quality,"
he said. "It's as simple as that. That's not acceptable."
Preliminary indications are that a software problem developed
about 2:25 EST yesterday in a processor connected to a 4 ESS
switch in New York City, part of the new Signalling System 7
network that carries such call completion data as originating and
destination phone number separate from the call itself. The
problem spread rapidly through the network, affecting the regular
long-distance network, 800 service and the Software Defined
Network (SDN). Private lines and special government networks were
not affected.
After eliminating a number of suspected causes, software
overrides applied about 10 p.m. last night finally restored normal
network capabilities over the next couple hours. Allen said
people at AT&T Bell Laboratories and in the Network Engineering
network capabilities over the next couple hours. Allen said
people at AT&T Bell Laboratories and in the Network Engineering
organization are studying the volumes of data accumulated. "We
are confident the root cause will be identified, at which time we
will take appropriate steps to make certain it doesn't happen
again." While he did not want to speculate until all the analysis
is in, Allen said there is a "growing level of confidence" that no
computer "virus" was involved.
Allen said AT&T is talking to major customers affected by the
outage to explain what happened, and to detail the company's
response. And, he said, AT&T will file an emergency petition with
the Federal Communications Commission calling for a special day of
discount calling to help compensate both residence and business
customers who were inconvenienced. Garrett added that call
attempts were near normal levels yesterday, despite the holiday,
and that "there are no indications of any problems today."
------------------------------
From: ken@cup.portal.com
Subject: AT&T Operator Policy During Outage
Date: Wed, 17-Jan-90 09:57:57 PST
While it will be interesting to find out the actual reason for the
failure (NBC implied it was related to a new software release that
failed under load in New York and propagated through the rest of the
country), it is even more interesting to hear about AT&T "policy".
That is, AT&T operators would not give instructions for using
alternative carriers or even hint that it might be possible to get
through other carriers.
Now, when I go to a Hilton and they are full, they will check with
Ramada and any other area hotels to see if their are rooms available.
I understand the reasons they won't! Once a customer learns how to use
an alternative carrier, they may not go back...
Ken Jongsma
ken@cup.portal.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed 17 Jan 90 13:44:37-PST
From: "Ole J. Jacobsen" <OLE@csli.stanford.edu>
Subject: The AT&T Problem
What amazed me the most about the AT&T outage the other day was
people's inability to live with the situation and use 10xxx dialling.
One business guy interviewed on CNN said he "lost several hours and
lots of money" because of the long distance problems. I have never
figured out why the RBOCs have been so unwilling to teach the public
about 10xxx dialling, there must be at least a dozen carriers
available to the average customer (allright maybe 6, but stilll....)
Ole
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: And there you have a selection of the
messages which ran in the Digest seventeen years ago on the occassion
of the great AT&T service outage, in mid-January, 1990. Like the great
fiasco in November, 1948 where the Chicago Tribune reported in its
first edition headline that "Dewey Beats Truman", some major fiascos
live on and on in infamy, as I suspect will happen with the AT&T
outage in January, 1990. PAT]
------------------------------
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