Disasters with technology can and do happen, even to large, respected organisations, proving time and again how much we rely on our IT, and therefore need it to be supported by experts who know what they are doing with technology.
If you’ve never really thought about IT support for your business, maybe because you presume you don’t need it, or think that disasters with IT don’t really happen, think again.
To prove our point, we’ve pulled together our top five worst IT disasters of all time.
Software bug nearly caused a third world war
In 1983, the catastrophic implications of what was just a software bug are a stark reminder of what can go wrong in a sensitive situation, and how much can be at stake, in this case for the whole world.
It has been well recorded that as a result of a software bug in the Soviet early warning system, the Russians’ intelligence system informed them incorrectly the US had launched five ballistic missiles.
If it hadn’t been for one lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Defence Forces, Stanislav Petrov, going against orders to trust his own judgment that five missiles seemed unlikely, and that the notification through the system had come too quickly, the retaliation would certainly have led to catastrophic nuclear conflict.
When the system was later interrogated, there was indeed found to be a software bug in the system that had made the multiple layers of verification malfunction and give the wrong notification of an attack.
New passport system lets down holidaymakers
We all know how much we need our holidays, especially after a pandemic! But in the summer of 1999, approximately half a million British people couldn’t get their new passport issued in time from the Passport Agency to go on holiday.
A new computer system had been brought in at the same time as a change in the law - that all children under 16 need a passport in order to travel. The new system had not, allegedly, been tested thoroughly, nor, it is claimed, had staff had sufficient training.
The lack of testing and staff training, alongside the increased demand for the service caused a severe breakdown in service and many people missed holidays, with the result that the Home Office had to pay out millions in compensation and staff overtime.
Exploding laptops costs billions
Did you know that IT support, also covers all your hardware to ensure it’s fit for purpose, and, above all, safe?
In 2006, at a trade show in Japan, a Dell laptop burst into flames, captured live on film. Dell investigated the event and traced the issue to the battery and power supply, which had overheated and caught fire.
Dell sensibly decided to recall and replace 4.1 million laptop batteries as a result, but the added knock-on effect was that Apple also had to recall 54 million devices, since they had also used the same battery supplier.
Code error leaves 75 million US phone calls unanswered
In 1990, the AT&T telecommunications network collapsed, and millions of phone calls across the US went unanswered. It was due to a single switch with a minor mechanical problem at one of the switching centres that then sent a message to other centres, causing them to trip and shut down, before resetting.
Thought at first to be hackers, the problem had been caused by an error in a single line of code. The effects of the unanswered calls are hard to quantify, but it was estimated at the time that American Airlines alone had lost approximately 200,000 reservations due to the error.
Child Support Agency’s new system overpays 1.9 million people
Not only was a new computer system brought in by the Child Support Agency in 2004, the Department for Work and Pensions also, at the same time, decided to reform the agency, causing insurmountable operational difficulties.
In chaos that reportedly cost the taxpayer over a billion pounds, the new complex IT system overpaid nearly two million people but also underpaid around 700,000.
IT support for your business
New computer systems, complex operational tasks, as well as hardware safety and sufficient testing and training are all part and parcel of comprehensive IT support cover to ensure your organisation is best served by its technology.
Things can and do go wrong. Make sure you’re covered.
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