E03 - How Brazil Kept Us Up At Night

Host Hany Fahim tells an intriguing tale of the global ripple effects of a political event and the phenomenal power of social media.

Hany was - somewhat successfully – at home assembling a chair one evening in 2015. Suddenly, he received news of a huge spike in traffic. Normally, this would point to a number of things, such as a marketing event or even an attack—but nothing seemed to add up.

Hunting for answers, Hany traced the users’ IP addresses. Interestingly, they all seemed to lead back to Brazil. That seemed like a red flag; was this a calculated attack? Rather than trying to puzzle it out on his own, Hany consulted the social media grapevine for answers: Twitter.

When Hany learned of the Brazilian government’s 48-hour ban on WhatsApp, the puzzle pieces began to fall into place. Brazil’s citizens were circumventing the popular app’s ban by using VPNs. Luckily, Hany was able to use this information to find ways to accommodate the spike in traffic, rather than defending against it.

How Brazil Kept Us Up At Night is a thought-provoking look at how business, politics, and technology are deeply intertwined in our social lives. Hany reflects on human ingenuity in the face of government censorship and the positive impacts of social media when it comes to problem solving for ops.

Connect with Hany at his company stack.io and LinkedIn.

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