For about three hours on Thursday, there was a NASDAQ trading interruption that affected the entire exchange.

Credit: The Wall Street Experience

As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir.

In time, the exchange will know what caused the problem and will take steps to prevent it again.  However, if a robust and secure system like the NASDAQ can go down, what does that mean for other mission-critical systems?  Other financial markets have been hacked in recent years so a deliberate attack would not be unprecedented.

Think for a moment about the electrical grids, oil and gas pipelines, banking, air traffic control, water treatment and distribution, hospital systems, and other systems that millions rely on to keep our society functioning…

If today’s events demonstrate anything, its evident that systems can fail at any time.  Whenever possible, take precautions and make preparations for these events.  Some may call them “unforeseen” or “unexpected” but an astute observer knows that interruptions will happen.