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Showing posts with label customer complaints. Show all posts

X Faces Global Outage Twice in Hours, Thousands of Users Report Access Issues

 

Hours apart, fresh disruptions hit X - once called Twitter - as glitches blocked entry for countless people across regions. Though brief, these lapses fuel unease over stability under Musk’s control, following a trail of prior breakdowns just lately. A pattern forms without needing bold claims: service falters too often now. 

Early afternoon saw service disruptions start across the U.S., per Downdetector figures, hitting a high point near 3:50 PM EST with about 25,000 affected individuals. Later that evening, roughly at 8:00 PM EST, another wave emerged - over 6,000 people then faced login difficulties. 

Problems surfaced across multiple areas, according to user feedback. Close to fifty percent struggled just to open the app on their phones. Some saw broken features within the feed or site navigation failing mid-use. Interruptions popped up globally - not confined by borders - hitting people in both UK cities and Indian towns alike. 

Fewer incidents appeared out of India at first, yet the next wave brought a clear rise - more than six hundred alerts came through by dawn. That same split trend showed up elsewhere, too: data from StatusGator backed the idea of two separate waves hitting at different times. 

Even though the problem spread widely, X stayed silent on what triggered it. Still, users asking about glitches got answers from Grok, its built-in chat assistant. A hiccup in systems stopped feeds from refreshing, according to the bot. Pages showed errors instead of content during the episode. Past patterns hint at fast fixes when similar faults occurred. Resolution could come without delay, the machine implied. 

Frustration spread through user communities when services went down unexpectedly. Online spaces filled quickly as people shared what they encountered during the downtime. Some saw pages fail to load halfway; others found nothing loaded at all. Reports pointed to repeated problems over recent weeks, not just isolated moments. 

A pattern emerged - not sudden failure, but lingering instability across visits. Still reeling from another outage, X faces mounting pressure as service disruptions chip away at reliability worldwide. A fresh breakdown underscores persistent weaknesses in its operational backbone. 

With each failure, trust erodes just a bit more among users who depend on steady access. Problems aren’t isolated - they ripple through regions where uptime matters most. Behind the scenes, fixes appear slow, inconsistent, or both. What looked like progress now seems fragile under repeated strain.

DNA Testing Firm Atlas Biomed Vanishes, Leaving Customers in the Dark About Sensitive Data

A prominent DNA-testing company, Atlas Biomed, appears to have ceased operations without informing customers about the fate of their sensitive genetic data. The London-based firm previously offered insights into genetic profiles and predispositions to illnesses, but users can no longer access their online reports. Efforts by the BBC to contact the company have gone unanswered.

Customers describe the situation as "very alarming," with one stating they are worried about the handling of their "most personal information." The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) confirmed it is investigating a complaint about the company. “People have the right to expect that organisations will handle their personal information securely and responsibly,” the ICO said.

Several customers shared troubling experiences. Lisa Topping, from Essex, paid £100 for her genetic report, which she accessed periodically online—until the site vanished. “I don’t know how comfortable I feel that they have just disappeared,” she said.

Another customer, Kate Lake from Kent, paid £139 in 2023 for a report that was never delivered. Despite being promised a refund, the company went silent. “What happens now to that information they have got? I would like to hear some answers,” she said.

Attempts to reach Atlas Biomed have been fruitless. Phone lines are inactive, its London office is vacant, and social media accounts have been dormant since mid-2023.

The firm is still registered as active with Companies House but has not filed accounts since December 2022. Four officers have resigned, and two current officers share a Moscow address with a Russian billionaire who is a former director. Cybersecurity expert Prof. Alan Woodward called the Russian links “odd,” stating, “If people knew the provenance of this company and how it operates, they might not trust them with their DNA.”

Experts highlight the risks associated with DNA testing. Prof. Carissa Veliz, author of Privacy is Power, warned, “DNA is uniquely yours; you can’t change it. When you give your data to a company, you are completely at their mercy.”

Although no evidence of misuse has been found, concerns remain over what has become of the company’s DNA database. Prof. Veliz emphasized, “We shouldn’t have to wait until something happens.”

Cell Service Restored Following Extensive AT&T Outage

 

AT&T has resolved issues affecting its mobile phone customers following widespread outages on Thursday, according to a company announcement.Throughout the day, tens of thousands of cell phone users across the United States reported disruptions.

Reports on Downdetector.com, a platform monitoring outages, indicated instances of no service or signal after 04:00 EST (09:00 GMT).

AT&T issued an apology to its customers and confirmed that services were fully operational again by early afternoon. The company stated its commitment to taking preventive measures to avoid similar incidents in the future. The cause of the outage is currently being investigated.

Verizon and T-Mobile informed the BBC that their networks were functioning normally. However, they acknowledged that some customers may have experienced service issues while attempting to communicate with users on different networks.

According to Downdetector, AT&T received over 74,000 customer complaints, with significant clusters in southern and eastern regions of the country.

Smaller carriers like Cricket Wireless, UScellular, and Consumer Cellular also reported interruptions in service. Complaints ranged from difficulties with calls, texts, to internet access, with many users reporting no service or signal.

Downdetector's data showed that major cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Atlanta experienced high numbers of outages.

Some individuals also faced challenges with 911 services, prompting officials to advise the use of landlines, social media, or cell phones from alternative carriers in emergencies.

The widespread outage has garnered the attention of the US government, with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security launching investigations, as confirmed by John Kirby, spokesperson for the US National Security Council.

Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, stated that they are collaborating with AT&T to understand the root cause of the outage and are ready to provide assistance as necessary.

Although a confidential memo reported by ABC News suggested no signs of malicious activity, CISA officials are actively investigating the incident.