Some people use Internet only for fun whereas for some people, Internet is their living. Yes, these days most of the people do work from home and also does online business, performs large transactions, booking and so much more and all these happens for every minute.
But all of a sudden, these functions and communications in Japan came to a halt recently. And it caused heavy loss.
Yes, due to a small mistake of Google, the Internet in the Japan got blocked.
Recently, Google updated its Internet routing table which is a list of IP addresses. And to convey the list of web addresses they own, it accidentally included web addresses owned by Japanese telecoms in the list.
As a result, Internet in Japan broke down and when people tried to visit several Japanese websites, they were instead redirected somewhere else, usually nowhere. However, the problem was solved by Google in 8 minutes, but the damage was already done.
Poor connectivity continued for several hours for other services on the Internet. For example, online trading became impossible on the website of brokerage house Rakuten Securities Inc. from 12:30 p.m. through 3:50 p.m.
Many Japanese banks and other corporations couldn’t use their web services, customers for the East Japan Railway Company couldn’t book tickets, and millions of customers of NTT Communications, Japan’s largest telecom, had no service.
“We set wrong information for the network and, as a result, problems occurred. We modified the information to the correct one within eight minutes. We apologize for causing inconvenience and anxieties (among Internet users).” a Google spokesperson told The Asahi Shimbun.
One small mistake by Google employee accidentally shut down internet access for much of Japan. Even Japanese government had to get involved in the matter and investigate it.
Now, how it makes you feel if the Internet goes off forever and is no longer available? Even to imagine, it is horrible right?