You Are Vulnerable to Fragile Electronic Systems
It's not just Crowdstrike and it's not just AT&T - they are all fragile
Fragile Systems
The Crowdstrike outage shows once again how fragile our modern electronic systems are.
One file! Early analysis says that the Crowdstrike outage may have been caused by something called a “null pointer” in a configuration file. A null pointer means that the file directed the operating system to an invalid memory location and so the system crashed. And, once it crashed, it requires manual intervention on each computer to correct the offending configuration file.
This outage bricked millions of computers. Many of them were servers that run critical parts of our infrastructure. When the server goes down, things quit working.
For most people, communications today depends completely on mobile (cellular) phones. Our mobile phone infrastructure has similar vulnerabilities.
The Crowdstrike outage is, in some ways, like the AT&T outage in February of 2024. According to the FCC, the AT&T outage “lasted at least 12 hours and prevented customers from using voice and data services, including blocking more than 92 million phone calls and more than 25,000 attempts to reach 911.[i]” See the PDF link in the endnotes.
According to AT&T, that outage was caused by “was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network[ii].”
The point here is that there are many events short of “fecal matter in the rotating air dispersion device” that can take out your day-to-day communications. Mistakes made when maintaining the systems, as Crowdstrike and AT&T were doing, can and does occasionally bring the systems down.
Having a backup plan for communications is a good idea. Separating the equipment used for that communications from the public communications network is also a good idea.
Radios for emergency communications within your family or within your team are a practical backup plan.
It is true that radios nowadays are themselves computers but they are isolated from the public communications networks. Radios are not “mass updated” on a routine basis as in the Crowdstrike and AT&T examples. Most people will never need to update the software inside the little computer that runs their radio.
Prepare
What should you do to prepare? Answering that question is the aim of the series “Radios for Prepared Civilians” on my substack (keithrutledge.substack.com).
I’ll also be teaching a series of classes on this topic at The Sawmill Tactical Training Center. In this series of classes, you will learn what radio networks you can set up now so that you are prepared. Each class includes practical exercises.
Radios for Prepared Civilians is four blocks of instruction. Each class builds on the earlier classes but the classes can be taken as stand-alone blocks of instruction.
Introduction to Radios For Prepared Civilians – January 18, 2025, at The Sawmill Tactical Training Center
Introduction to Radios for Prepared Civilians covers requirements, legal considerations, electronic situational awareness, introduction to radios, radio theory, voice radio networks, and power considerations.
Price: $200
Antennas and Radio Networks for Prepared Civilians – January 19, 2025, at The Sawmill Tactical Training Center
In this class we’ll learn antennas, encryption, radio network operations, Signal Operating Instructions (SOI), and operate a radio network. This class includes a practical exercise for antennas and for radio network operations.
Price: $200
Mesh Radios and TAK for Prepared Civilians – February 15, 2025, at The Sawmill Tactical Training Center
This one-day block of instruction covers mesh radios, mesh radio networks, Team Awareness Kit (TAK), and TAK networks.
Price: $200
Build Your Own Mesh Radio – February 16, 2025, at The Sawmill Tactical Training Center
In this one-day class, you’ll build your own solar powered mesh radio, configure it, then set up and operate a mesh radio network. This class uses RAK Wireless mesh radio kits, Meshtastic, and TAK.
Price: $200 PLUS the cost of the kit. The estimated cost of the radio kit (radio components, antenna, battery, and solar panel case) is approximately $125 including shipping. Exact costs are only available when the kit orders are placed. Because of the lead time for the kits, the cut-off date for registration for “Build Your Own Mesh Radio” is December 1, 2024. No refunds are available for this class after December 1, 2024.
[i] https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-404154A1.pdf
[ii] https://about.att.com/pages/network-update
Don’t forget: I write about AR-15’s too. Understanding the AR-15 and AR-10 on Amazon