Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Basically, the aluminum wires were too big for some holes and too stiff to bend
around obstructions.
2010: McAfee Antivirus Bug Shuts Down Computers
In 2010, the well-known McAfee antivirus package had a new update. A bug in
this update caused the McAfee software to identify part of the Windows XP op-
erating system as a malicious file, which shut down thousands of computers that
were running XP at the time.
This bug was front-page news in my home state of Rhode Island because it
caused the suspension of surgical procedures in a number of Rhode Island hospit-
als. Schedules and contact information for physicians and nurses became unavail-
able when the computers stopped working.
Lessons learned: The lesson from this problem is to be sure that all releases of
software are properly regression-tested prior to release.
Problem avoidance: The bug would certainly have been found by means of code
inspections. It might have slipped through static analysis tools because it was a lo-
gical error rather than a syntactic error. Requirements modeling might have found
the problem, but it was not used.
Clearly, testing should have found the problem but did not. The probable reason
is informal test-case design rather than rigorous mathematically based test-case
design.
2011: Failed Investment in Studio 38 in Rhode Island
In 2010, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the State of Rhode Is-
land agreed to loan $75 million to the Studio 38 game company owned by former
Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling. In return, the company moved to Providence and
began operations with about 250 employees.
As is common with software applications in the $75 million cost range, the
main product of Studio 38 ran behind schedule. As is also common with startups,
Studio 38 itself ran low on funds and fell behind in its payments to the state.
In the absence of fresh capital from film credits, external investors, the state,
or other sources, the company missed payrolls, ran out of funds, laid off the entire
staff, and then declared bankruptcy.
Looking at the history of what happened prior to the bankruptcy, there was no
due diligence or risk analysis by the state prior to the loan. Once the loan was giv-
en, there was no effective governance. Both should have been done. It is easy to
Search WWH ::




Custom Search