Telecom Crash In Australia

Optus Telecom, the second largest telecommunications company in Australia that serves 40% of the population, suffered a complete phone and internet outage for most of the day today. Looking at the above outage map, you might think, “that doesn’t look so bad”, but those red dots represent where most Australians live.

The outage had massive impacts across all of Australian society and almost immediate effects were felt. We’re going to delve into that here and discuss what that means for us in preparedness and how we can mitigate our impacts if it happens here.

Let’s address the elephant in the room: The company claims it has no evidence to suggest this was a hack, but they were hacked last year and had subscriber information stolen and posted to the internet. Optus is owned by Singapore Telecommunications, and there is a HUGE Chinese presence and influence in Singapore, so that remains a potential cause. While they claim it wasn’t a hack, they also haven’t explained the cause either. Whether it was a hack or not doesn’t matter to us, we will deal with effects.

First, this shut down internet and phone service to millions of residential and business customers, but that was just the first order effect. You know me, the second and third order effects are where we need to invest our energy. Sure, it’s inconvenient to not have phone or internet, but what are the follow-on effects?

The first second order effect was an immediate halt to payment systems that rely on the internet. This is where it gets real. Your car is empty, but your card won’t go through at the pump. You are at the grocery store and the card reader just stopped. Sure, carrying cash solves this, and that’s my advice, but how many of you actually carry sufficient cash, more than $20 or $40 pocket money, to transact the business of daily life? Not many. Debit cards and the free movement of electrons make it so much more convenient not to carry cash. Get in the habit of carrying enough cash to buy gas and food if needed and have a larger amount secured at home, in case the situation isn’t resolved quickly.

Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight;
    you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.

Ecclesiates 11:2

That piece of Tactical Wisdom applies directly: Don’t have all your eggs in one basket.

Now, many people then said “OK, I’ll just run to the bank and get cash.” Third order effect time. If the computers are down at the bank, along with the phones, you aren’t getting any of your hard-earned money out. Heck, in the US, it’s hard enough to make a large cash withdrawal with the systems working, let alone when they go down. Again, keeping a supply of cash stored safely at home is a great idea. Australians found bank doors closed or tellers telling them they couldn’t process withdrawals.

ATMs were similarly out, since they rely on phone lines and the internet to dispense cash. That option was out as well.

You know who else relies on telecom companies for lines and connectivity? The government. The Australian 000 service, equivalent to our 911, was down in the affected areas. It eventually came back up, but it was out for a while. Imagine what would happen in Philadelphia, Baltimore, or Chicago if it became known that the police couldn’t answer the phone.

Health care providers reported another second order effect: The inability to pull up records or summon ambulances or doctors for emergencies. One clinic needed an ambulance for a patient and had to run out looking for people with phone service other than Optus to call for help. Several hospitals had trouble reaching specialists for emergencies. With our over-reliance on a working internet and cell system to rapidly exchange medical patient records, this is a huge risk. A suggestion for medical preparedness comes from my friend the Arctic Nurse and is in TW-05 – keeping index cards for each family member with allergies listed, major health conditions, and any medications they are taking listed. Absent electronic records, this at least keeps you safe from drug allergies or dangerous drug interactions.

At the beginning of the outage, the Metro train system came to an immediate halt, as their scheduling and running relies on the internet. They were able to switch networks and get back online, but do you have a plan for outages if you take public transportation?

A third order effect in the transportation sector was Uber. Yeah, something no one thinks about. Since the drivers were operating offline, with no oversight from Uber, prices skyrocketed and were almost triple on typical days. Since the trains weren’t running and folks couldn’t buy gas, unscrupulous Uber drivers decided to make a little bank. As we mentioned last week, develop several foot routes so that you aren’t at the mercy of those who might take advantage. Even worse, what are the odds that some sketchy folks decided to become “Uber drivers for a day” since Uber couldn’t confirm if you were legit or not? Folks were just flagging down cars with Uber signs on them. I’ve always said don’t take Uber because it’s one step up from hitchhiking (as if the mere act of paying for a ride from a stranger somehow makes it safer) and this just confirms it.

After more than 8 hours, some services have begun to come back online, but they are far from full restoration and still haven’t explained what happened. Do you have communications plans to reach your family and loved ones in place? Do you have the resources to get by for more than a day without cell phone or internet?

I know, that last question seems silly, but take an honest look at your daily lives and realize how much of it truly relies on the free flow of electrons. Some of you (probably me to be honest) would start going insane if you couldn’t post on FB or X for 2 straight days. I joke, but do you seriously have enough gas in your car for 2 days? Cash on hand to obtain necessities? What’s your medication situation? Mrs JD needs her Sudafed and if the internet is down, you can’t get Sudafed. How will the younger crowd react to going cold turkey on the internet long term?

Keep in mind that a growing trend in retail is cashless stores and cashier less checkouts. If that self-checkout isn’t connected to the internet, it won’t care how much cash you have because it can’t record the sale. One of the Wal-Mart stores near me has no cashiers after a remodel. Several smaller chains accept no cash. Identify who in your area accepts cash and has an old-school cash register. My friend Abdul (who will find you whatever liquor bottle you need in a hurry) has an old school register and he stocks food, alcohol, and necessities. It might cost a bit more, but I’d rather support him than a mega corporation and I know I can count on him in an emergency. I also know that he’s always openly armed, so his store is a safe place. Find spots like this. A side note to this is to get to know these people. If things get dangerous, Abdul will let me in when he might not others because he knows I’m not a threat and would likely help him protect his store. Be a known good guy.

Whenever one of these events takes place, study the effects and war-game how you would negotiate the situation. Imagine that you were a traveler in that town, and everything stopped working. Our minds are wonderous creations of God, they see visualizations as experience. If you can work through it in your mind, when the real thing happens, your brain will remind you that you worked all these issues out beforehand. Practice visualization.

Consider your neighbors in these situations as well. If you have elderly neighbors who might not be able to call family or an ambulance, go knock on their doors and check on them. Seeing a friendly neighbor when they don’t understand why the meals-on-wheels lady hasn’t showed up can literally save a life. You might find one has fallen and can’t understand why LifeAlert isn’t working. There is some Tactical Wisdom about looking after our elderly neighbors:

Do not cast me away when I am old;
    do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

Psalm 71:9

We’ll keep watch on how the investigation goes and on how long it takes to fully restore service, but I wanted to get you all thinking about this. As world tensions increase, the likelihood that a nation-state bad actor would target our electrical grid, internet, or phone system increases exponentially. Start planning; start acting. That world crisis you’ve been preparing for is upon us.

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