Fault in software code caused Defense outage, grounding flights at Eindhoven Airport

An error in the software code caused the major computer outage on Wednesday, Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans reported. According to him, there is no indication that malicious parties were involved.

“The cause of the problem was in the access to the NAFIN network,” Brekelmans said in a statement on X. Due to an error in the software code, it was not possible to connect to this network.”

Safety was never compromised by the outage, the Minister wrote in a letter to parliament. “Despite all of this inconvenience, many processes within and outside Defense were able to continue as normal, and safety was not compromised.”

Brekelmans called it “very annoying” that the Defense network outage affected so many people. “At Eindhoven Airport, travelers had to wait a long time and in uncertainty, which disrupted their journey. People were also unable to log in at work, and government services were less accessible.”

“All this shows once again how important it is for IT systems to be resilient,” he said. Defense is monitoring the situation and will evaluate the outage with those involved.

NAFIN stands for the Netherlands Armed Forces Integrated Network. It is a highly secured fibre optic network of approximately 3,300 kilometers long that connects Defense locations with each other, but also non-Defense locations like police stations.

In recent years, work has been done to modernize the closed fiber optic network of Defense. This has involved over 30 million euros. Construction of the NAFIN network began in 1996 and is managed by KPN.

The Court of Audit is currently investigating NAFIN. “The NAFIN network is essential for the functioning of Defense and the entire central government,” according to the Court of Audit. Among other thigns, it is investigating how Defense keeps the network resilient to cyber attacks.”