❗️ TOP 5 Software Failures of 2018–2019 ❕(#5 is pretty alarming) 😧
In this modern day and age tech is something we can’t even imagine our life without. It’s intertwined with the simplest activities and now almost everything is being replaced by some kind of software. Programs are controlling our lives. But we have to understand, no matter how easy they might make or try to make our existence, they are still human creations and companies offsprings. Why it’s relevant? Well, because people make mistakes and where money is involved companies might not decide that some mistakes are worth fixing as long as not many customers, if any, knows about them.
Technology is so cool and very scary at the same time. How much we can achieve and how badly it can turn. Here are just a few recent examples from 2018–2019 when software failed.
#1. Facebook’s apps outage 👀
In the summer of 2019 Facebook users stopped being able to view or load images from the newsfeed. But it wasn’t just Facebook’s issue. Other of its apps had troubles as well. Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger had an inconvenient outage. Its users couldn’t send messages, media files or view instastories. The malfunction angered a lot of users and made the top of complaints on the rival platform — Twitter.
Facebook announced that everything was fixed and happened due to an accident during “routine maintenance”. But these days social media platforms are so popular that these kinds of things can affect a lot of people and cost the company a bad rep and ads refunds. And that’s not mentioning the major scandal with Facebook in 2018 when personal information of millions of users were gathered without their consent by Cambridge Analytica.
#2. CPUs flaw 💻
Google had shocked everyone in 2018 revealing CPUs vulnerabilities — Meltdown and Spectre, which can access private and sensitive data of other programs. They influence Intel, AMD and ARM chips. This hardware flaw makes stealing data, passwords and keys a piece of cake. Furthermore, there are new versions of these vulnerabilities, like the one of Spectre called SWAPGSAttack. This tricky thing provides an opportunity to monitor computers and take information leaving no trace. And computers (workstations and laptops) aren’t the only devices that can be affected. Smartphones, tablets, servers and others can also take a hit.
Microsoft worked extremely hard to create software solutions to these hardware problems. And it had some success. Now there are certain patches that help to secure your data against the initial flaws. You just have to update your systems and they will take effect. But the work isn’t done yet. The patches might help with protecting your information, but they might also influence the device’s performance and not in a good way. So, pay attention to new updates (software and hardware) to get the best way to guard yourself and your privacy.
#3. Crashed lunar lander 🌑
On April 11th 2019 the history wasn’t made, but it came pretty close to it. Israel almost became the fourth country making the landing on the Moon surface (after the Soviet Union, USA and China). The small robotic spacecraft called Beresheet created by the SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) failed just moments before landing. When attempting its final descent to the surface and firing the main angine, something went very wrong and the last completely shut down. The mission control center tried to reset it, but communications with the craft were lost. It’s painfully obvious that the lander crashed with all of the equipment on its board.
Despite the unsuccessful conclusion of its trip, lunar lander have made it really far. Scientists that have been working on it still feel that they’ve achieved a lot and will continue their mission.
#4. British Airways glitch ✈️
When the busiest month for airways came along, computer system completely went down. On the 7th of August 2019 over hundred flights of British Airways (BA) were cancelled and near to 300 delayed. Thousands of passengers had to stay behind and wait crazy long hours in the packed airports. The check-in procedures had to be switched to manual which made the queues starting to slightly resemble Dante’s “Inferno”.
And it wasn’t the first time when the system screwed up. The pattern of software failures over the last couple of years suggests poor computer management and calls for concern. Investors are already pretty worked up, since the financial risks with such issues are too high.
#5. Self-driving killer car 🚗
On March 18th 2018 a self-driving Uber car that was being tested on the roads of Arizona hit and killed a pedestrian. The backup driver couldn’t react in time to prevent the accident. It was a great tragedy that shook the state and whole industry of autonomous vehicles. Who’s at fault here? The woman pedestrian who was crossing the road with her bike came out of the dark and it’s possible that in any kind of mood the collision couldn’t have been avoided. But maybe the driver could have paid more attention to the road? Or the Uber company could have done a better job when creating such a car and didn’t deactivate its emergency braking system? Or maybe even the state should have not allowed this kind of technology to be tested on the streets? The only conclusive thing is that after the incident Uber haven’t applied to renew its permit for testing vehicles in Arizona. The community is still very angry and isn’t ready for self-driving cars on public roads. It’s still too dangerous and not trustworthy.
But, nevertheless, other companies continue testing their tech — autonomous vehicles — on the roads and there are no regulations that can ensure their safety. A year passed and even Uber plans to resume their tests in some of the cities.
Conclusion 😵
Though not every IT failure is life threatening, many of them can potentially be. And I haven’t even gone to the accidents with medical records and equipment due to some bug, when a lot of people who have expected treatment were killed or affected in a harmful way. And there have been a lot of different incidents over the years. So, please, be careful and don’t completely rely on technology, ’cause there’s always a chance that it’ll fail you.
Hope this article can raise some additional awareness in your minds and hearts. If you want to share other cases of software mistakes or discuss this issue, we’re waiting for your comments below.
