The rest of the article is interesting in that the source says more protection for Mars probes is needed; also this brings to mind the Soviet-era probe which reached Martian orbit, turned on its camera, and briefly recorded the "something that shouldn't be there" pile of rock that smashed the probe. :') For that matter, another Russian probe stopped transmitting suddenly while on its way to Mars.
Historically, Mars has been a very "resistant" planet. The success rate of probes sent there has been low.