A UK retail banking organisation suffered a major computer meltdown that led to a failure in its network of cash machines, online and phone services. A string of operational risks had materialised and interacted, locking millions of their customers out of their bank accounts. This event was the second major outage in 12 months, making it catastrophic. The bank's management apologised to their customers - and settled 70 million of compensation claims, followed by a 56 million fine levied by the Bank of England.

a) List four possible causes of this event.

   b) Discuss how this bank can use forward and backward strategies better to manage this type of risk in the future.