Did my app just crash? A case study of the Kakao superapp disruption event

Bill Hefley, Steven Haynes and Travis Green
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Bill Hefley: Naveen Jindal School of Management, USA
Steven Haynes: Director of the Risk Management and Cybersecurity Program, USA
Travis Green: The Town of Fairview, USA

Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 2024, vol. 17, issue 3, 261-283

Abstract: Superapps (ie apps that integrate the features of multiple applications for a more convenient user experience) have become pervasive among Internet users. This case study examines a recent disruption to one such application: KakaoTalk — the most widely used messaging application in South Korea. Specifically, the case study examines a fire incident at the SK C&C data centre, which caused an extended outage for one of South Korea’s leading tech companies — Kakao Corp. The review of this event reveals how ineffective disaster readiness resulted in inadequate fire response, leading to serious ripple effects across the data centre. During the outage, cyber-security threats rose. As a result of these disruptions, Kakao users turned to competitor apps, resulting in changing market dynamics. This case study highlights the unforeseen costs and socio-economic influences caused by such interruptions, highlighting the importance of holistic risk management strategies.

Keywords: service outage; data centre; critical infrastructure; business continuity; risk management; resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M1 M10 M12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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