A Global IT Outage and a Look Back to "Barmageddon"
The world woke up yesterday to a major IT outage impacting airlines, businesses, the U.S. government, and various sectors across the globe. The disruption stems from a software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, affecting Microsoft’s Windows operating systems.
Even bar exam takers were affected, as BARBRI announced that its learning platform, which is based on Microsoft Azure, had been impacted and some students were unable to access their courses.
According to news reports, CrowdStrike's "Falcon Sensor" software caused Windows to crash and display the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death." With many Fortune 500 companies using CrowdStrike software, the impact was substantial.
Unfortunately, tech issues arise. Even for bar exam takers.
This situation brings to mind the infamous “Barmageddon” incident during the July 2014 bar exam. ExamSoft, which was, at the time, the leading testing softwarefor administering the bar exam, experienced severe technical difficulties, preventing many bar exam takers from uploading their answers prior to many jurisdictions’ deadlines.
The technical problems occurred on Tuesday (the written portion of the bar exam), when exam takers—who were initially informed they would fail the exam if their answers weren’t submitted in a timely manner—were trying to upload essay answers.
Jurisdictions eventually informed candidates that the upload deadlines would be extended as a result of the tech issues But given that thousands of test-takers spent Tuesday night anxious and stressed out trying repeatedly and unsuccessfully to upload their essay answers, it was probably no surprise that some takers might have underperformed on the remaining portion of the bar exam.
The July 2014 results eventually showed that the pass rates on that exam were some of the lowest in a decade.
While Barmageddon was an outlier event—and nothing similar on a widespread scale has taken place since—technical issues can occur during the bar exam.
If you encounter a technical problem during the bar exam, staying calm is important. Panicking will only exacerbate the situation. Take deep breaths and remain composed, following the guidelines provided by bar examiners for handling technical issues. Inform proctors or exam administrators immediately when an issue arises.
There are usually several onsite technicians available to troubleshoot hardware/software issues on exam day to provide quick assistance so that little time is lost. Additionally, most of the testing platforms save your responses every few seconds so that your responses can usually be retrieved with little data loss after addressing any computer problem.
Still, many jurisdictions recommend that you do not waste time waiting for technical issues to be resolve and strongly recommend that you ask your proctor for a set of answer books to work on the exam by hand until your laptop is working again. Many jurisdictions usually will not give extra time on account of technical failures during the exam.
Immediately after the testing day, file a detailed report with the bar examiners. If additional testing sessions remain, request necessary accommodations or considerations for the technical difficulties experienced. (You may not get, but it never hurts to ask!)
So, yes, unfortunately, technical issues may arise during the bar exam. But maintaining calm, being familiar with the jurisdiction's exam policies, and following established protocols are crucial when issues arise.
