Computer Security Weekly, January 10, 2000
Y2K remains the biggest topic, but there are others. Another short editorial; with your indulgence; a few Y2K notes, and then the rest.
Right off the top, a plea. For those of you who *did* stockpile for Y2K, turn your embarrassment to a good purpose. Non-perishable food items are *always* in demand at the food banks, particularly now in the post-holiday period, when all too many people feel their charitable giving is over for another year. Load up your Spam, beans, and hardtack, and take it down to your local food bank. If you don't know where the food bank is located, your local grocery store probably has collection bins near the door.
http://cnn.com/2000/US/01/03/y2k.what.no...
How bad was it? Not as bad as it could have been. Worse than we currently know. Not all the bugs will have surfaced yet. Wait until the first set of month end reports, then the first full billing period, then the first quarterly reports. You get the idea.
In addition, as with computer viruses and all kinds of data security problems, people are very loath to report the problems. The media also seems quite content to accept reassurances that none of the problems that happened near the rollover date were Y2K related, even when nobody can say just what the problem was. In addition, some problems have probably not been recognized as such, yet, since many people still believe that whatever a computer prints out is the gospel truth.
I do not, however, want to be included with the doomsayers. I am relieved that the lights are still on, and the phones still work. Whatever glitches do come up can be handled. Do a little extra sanity checking on what the computer tells you for the next little while and we should be just fine.
I reviewed a number of Y2K books over the past few years.
Some of them were pretty bad. One suggested that possibly ten percent of all businesses would fail because of Y2K bugs. Some businesses may still fail, if accounting and reporting software gives people the wrong information, but it probably won't be anywhere that level. An economist in the Netherlands was predicting a massive recession due to the business losses and downturn. I notice that his mailing list has been really quiet for a few months.
Then there are the real nuts, like Gary North. Apparently he is still maintaining that the end of the world is at hand. I'm sure that there will be cumulative and domino effects, but since most things are still running, we'll be able to weather them.
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