ABC — September 21, 2017 IMPACT: Amazon … sent out emails to costumers saying ‘Hello Amazon Customer, someone great recently purchased a gift from your baby registry!’ … most of whom didn’t have an Amazon baby registry. ROOT CAUSE: a technical glitch
Category Archives: Software bugs in the press
We must debunk this millennium bug myth
The Guardian — September 3, 2017 IMPACT: many failures did occur, including 15 shut-downs of nuclear reactors around the world ROOT CAUSE: The widespread use of two-digit years in computer systems PREVENTATIVE: spent years successfully finding and fixing many of the huge number of problems
‘Unexpected bug’ causes problems for new Wi-Fi network
The Panther — September 2, 2017 IMPACT: on the first day of fall semester classes… disconnected students and staff from the network and caused lagging ROOT CAUSE: not related to load… an actual bug at probably the worst time we could have had a bug RESOLUTION: The university’s new Wi-Fi network, Eduroam, had to be […]
Technical glitch halts bank transactions in Hyderabad
The Hans India — August 30, 2017 IMPACT: online services in several banks remained crippled for many hours ROOT CAUSE: Online technical snag in the banks across the city IMPACT: online services like Demand Drafts, challans, cheques clearance and other works could not be carried out
Pro-Hillary Clinton Site Hit With Cyber Attack
The Daily Caller — September 5, 2017 IMPACT: The cyber assault caused Verrit to stop loading for several hours ROOT CAUSE: a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack
Technical glitch means no new licence applications on Wednesday at Korsten
RNews – September 27, 2017 IMPACT: technicians could not connect the newly installed machines IMPACT: no new applications for learner’s and driver’s licences including professional driving permits will be possible REASON FOR NEW MACHINES: ensure that service delivery at our centres is improved and that long queues are a thing of the past
Months-old software bug was responsible for the devastating Equifax breach
BGR – September 14, 2017 IMPACT: [a security breach of] the personal information of over 143 million Americans has… cost the company dearly… IMPACT: [Equifax] lost nearly a third of its stock price and is currently facing what will be the largest class action lawsuit ROOT CAUSE: a vulnerability in web server software that hadn’t been […]
Instagram: celebrity contact details leaked after nude Bieber photos posted
The Guardian – September 1, 2017 ROOT CAUSE: bug within its application programming interface (API) allowed at least one person to gain AFFECTED: allowed criminals to steal the private information of celebrities
Scioto Township making aggregation adjustments
Chillicothe Gazette — September 1, 2017 ROOT CAUSE: a technical glitch IMPACT: doubled billing on the electricity generation portion of the AEP bills.
RBS fined £50m for 2012 computer chaos
The Guardian — November 19, 2014 COST: £50m of fines ROOT CAUSE: a routine procedure failed to be complete AFFECTED: – millions of customers shut out of their accounts for several days – customers unable to access their cash – people who were expecting salary payments