Sometimes systems crush. And when they crush, they become headline news. The results of a phenomenally simple software error can affect the life of millions of people in the most negative way.
The previous year showed how far bugs can go (check HERE) while the first half of 2017 seems to follow these steps.
Here are the top 6 most significant software failures till today:
Cash disappeared from Suncorp Bank’s accounts due to a glitch – 18 February
A malfunction during the upgrade of Suncorp Bank’s core banking platform caused amounts getting disappeared from customers’ bank accounts overnight. The wrong balances were a result of the unspecified glitch that occurred. There were many complains by customers for being locked out of their bank accounts and as many reports that went hundreds of dollars overdrawn or some amount of their cash had gone missing.
Bitcoin Unlimited Nodes Offline because of a code bug – 13 March
The second bug-attack that occurred within a month in the code of Bitcoin Unlimited caused the disconnection of nearly 70% of the nodes hosting the software. The developers had to release a patch for the bug and keep the changes private to avoid a repetition of nodes drop off.
Huge amount on taxes as software can’t reflect changes in law – 6 April
Some changes in the tax system of UK were too complicated to be implemented successfully by the software system. The risk of paying a much higher amount on taxes next year is possible because of the inability of the HMRC coders to solve the problem before the end of the tax year.
Million Dodge Ram Pickups Recalled Over Fatal Software Glitch – 12 May
More than 1.25 million Ram pickup trucks are being recalled worldwide as there is a high possibility their airbags and seatbelts fail to protect the passengers in case of a crash. According to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, at least one death and two injuries may be linked to the supposed error. To prevent the problem from reoccurring, the onboard sensor needs to be reprogramed.
Loss of patient data at Cairns Hospital – 24 May
Two weeks were needed for the faulty electronic medical records system of Cairns Hospital (Australia) to recover. The security patches installed to counter a cyber-attack that occurred to the statewide network, left the hospital users unable to log on or off the system. The loss of clinical notes, long delays in retrieving patient information and ambulance ramping are a few results of this error.
Cancelled British Airways’ flights – 27 May
A major IT software failure happened on British Airways -for the sixth time within a year- resulting in major outage. Massive cancelations on local flights (all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick) and delays on international flights happened on the worst timing: in between a long weekend and half-term school holidays commencing that week. The company’s website was down for over two hours and it took many days for British Airways operations to return to absolute normalcy. While the airline claimed that there was no evidence of an online attack, the reason for the outage is still being investigated.
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