Two paths through the same incident.
Without the Doppelgänger
- 1
Before
A major update is due, and several extensions are not compatible. Testing happens in the live store.
- 2
Sunday to Monday
Payment and shipping extensions fail, the agency works in emergency mode, and the store is restricted for a day and a half.
With the Doppelgänger
- 1
Rehearsal
The update is rehearsed on the anonymized copy until it runs through, test order included.
- 2
Switch-over
The live store only switches over once everything works, in a few minutes and reversible at any time.
I meet automated attacks with automated defense: updates go out quickly and regularly, but only after a test on an exact copy of the website.
What the incident costs.
More case studies
A week of casino ads
For a week the website redirected its visitors to casino sites. It was a customer who noticed.
Friday evening, “Update all”
One click on “Update all”, and after that the website showed nothing but “There has been a critical error.”
The checkout that listens in
For weeks, card details were skimmed at checkout. It was the bank that reported it.
A typical course of events, assembled from real incidents. Figures are example calculations based on the stated assumptions.