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Glitch releases US prisoners early(1) In reports today a glitch has caused more than 3,200 US prisoners to be released early. The software calculates a prisoner’s sentence depending on good/bad behaviour and was introduced in 2002. According to reports the problem has been ongoing for 13 years until a new IT boss was appointed and informed the governor's office. It is estimated that on average prisoners were released 49 days early. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30,000 SWISS HSBC BANK ACCOUNTS LEAKED TO MEDIA(2) This February The Guardian news outlet assisted in leaking 30,000 Swiss HSBC bank details, including notable names ranging from celebrities to politicians to corrupt businessmen. The information, which had been stolen initially in 2007 by a HSBC IT expert, is being made public for the first time this year and airs out quite a bit of HSBC’s dirty laundry. The account information brings to light scores of tax evaders, accusing HSBC of knowingly assisting in hiding roughly $120 billion in assets. While this story doesn’t exactly fall into the category of “software glitch”, it is a software failure of a very serious kind, and makes a strong case for standardizing the practice of Synthetic Test Data. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A software upgrade failure cost RBS £125m and left customers without access it their accounts for up to two weeks in June 2012.(3) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Computer error halts fuel payments, More than 1,000 people over 60 are still waiting for their winter fuel payments, two months after they should have been paid.(4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sainsbury's has suspended its online grocery service, meaning thousands of customers will not receive their orders on Wednesday and Thursday.(5) The company said a computer fault was spotted on Tuesday and it has been ringing people who booked a delivery to offer them £10 in compensation. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Faulty Soviet early warning system nearly causes WWIII (1983)
The threat of computers purposefully starting World War III is still the stuff of science fiction, but accidental software glitches have brought us worryingly close in the past. Although there are numerous alleged events of this ilk, the secrecy around military systems makes it hard to sort the urban myths from the real incidents.

However, one example that is well recorded happened back in 1983, and was the direct result of a software bug in the Soviet early warning system. The Russians' system told them that the US had launched five ballistic missiles. However, the duty officer for the system, one Lt Col Stanislav Petrov, claims he had a "...funny feeling in my gut", and reasoned if the US was really attacking they would launch more than five missiles.

The trigger for the near apocalyptic disaster was traced to a fault in software that was supposed to filter out false missile detections caused by satellites picking up sunlight reflections off cloud-tops.

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Glitch releases US prisoners early

In reports today a glitch has caused more than 3,200 US prisoners to be released early. The software calculates a prisoner’s sentence depending on good/bad behaviour and was introduced in 2002.

According to reports the problem has been ongoing for 13 years until a new IT boss was appointed and informed the governor's office. It is estimated that on average prisoners were released 49 days early.

Government divorce software failure

The government's online calculator for calculating spouses’ financial worth was hit with a Form E fault meaning that those calculations were wrong for thousands of couples that have been divorced in the past 20 months.

According to reports this error has been inflating spouses' finances since April 2014 but was only brought to like in December 2015.

According to the Office of National Statistics there were 114,720 divorces in England and Wales in 2013 so the damage that this fault has caused is yet to be fully revealed.

30,000 SWISS HSBC BANK ACCOUNTS LEAKED TO MEDIA

This February The Guardian news outlet assisted in leaking 30,000 Swiss HSBC bank details, including notable names ranging from celebrities to politicians to corrupt businessmen. The information, which had been stolen initially in 2007 by a HSBC IT expert, is being made public for the first time this year and airs out quite a bit of HSBC’s dirty laundry. The account information brings to light scores of tax evaders, accusing HSBC of knowingly assisting in hiding roughly $120 billion in assets. While this story doesn’t exactly fall into the category of “software glitch”, it is a software failure of a very serious kind, and makes a strong case for standardizing the practice of Synthetic Test Data.

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Fiat Chrysler is one of many companies that have been including hardware and software onboard their vehicles to enable various IoT capabilities. The automaker ran into a major issue this summer after two security researchers discovered they could remotely hack into Chrysler's Uconnect onboard system and actually take over the automobile's steering, transmission, and braking systems. Their findings -- and the public outcry that ensued -- resulted in the recall of 1.4 million Fiat Chrysler vehicles.

American Airlines offered its own major software bug earlier in the year. This resulted in significant flight delays for passengers over the span of a 48-hour period. The root cause? It was reportedly due to a bug in an iPad app that pilots use to view flight plans. Maybe now the crews will grab a paper copy of the flight plan as a backup.

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1) There was a glitch in software used in prisons which caused more than 3,200 prisoners to be released early.

2) 275,000 individual payments failed to be processed by HSBC, The cause of this major failure was a problem with its electronic payment system.

3) Just two weeks before Christmas, some of Amazon’s third-party retailers in the UK saw their wares reduced to just 1p each thanks to an hour-long pricing software glitch.

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1. A flawed computer system to recruit soldiers for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could end up costing £50m more than originally planned, according to leaked documents.

2. Not one, but two network failures left about ten million of Google's Gmail users unable to fully utilise their emails for 12 hours in September 2013.

3.While they quickly recovered, Apple was on the verge of losing their dominance in the device market when it became clear that it was difficult to make a call using the much anticipated iPhone 4.

4. Sainsbury's, the British supermarket giant, was determined to install an automated fulfillment system in its Waltham Point distribution center in Essex.

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Top software failures 2015: HSBC business banking glitch

In August 2015 a reported 275,000 individual payments failed to be processed by HSBC, which left many potentially without pay before the Bank Holiday weekend. The cause of this major failure was a problem with its electronic payment system for its business banking users which affected salary payments.

Bacs is the payment system that is used for payment processes across the UK is reported to have picked up on the issue but noted that it was an 'isolated issue'.

Top software failures 2015: 600,000 RBS payments go missing

In June 2015 about 600,000 payments failed to enter the accounts of RBS overnight – including wages and benefit payments. Many took several days to come through. The bank’s chief admin officer said a “technology fault meant we could not ingest a file from a third-party provider” but did not provide much further detail on the root cause. In 2012 6.5 million RBS customers experienced an outage due to batch scheduling software, a glitch for which the bank was subsequently fined £56 million.

Top software failures 2015: Nissan’s airbag glitch

Over the past two years Nissan has been recalling airbags adding up to over 1 million cars. The software failure was due to a glitch in the airbag's sensory detectors. In short, the affected cars could not detect whether an adult was sat in the car's

passenger seat and as a result the airbags would not inflate. There has been a

reported two accidents due to this software failure.

Top software failures 2014: UK airspace closed

Over 150 flights from London airports were cancelled and hundreds more delayed on 12 December last year. A server in Swanwick running the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight data processing system went down as a result of a software flaw. NATS has experienced a number of technical failures since the Swanwick base opened. Worryingly, software experts have warned its systems could collapse again.

Top software failures 2014: Air India forced to divert Boeing 787 flight Air India had to divert one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners last February after

pilots noticed a glitch in the plane software during a flight from Melbourne to New Delhi. Engineers flew from Hong Kong to fix the glitch, which was described as ‘not major’ by the airline. The episode was just the latest in a series of glitches to affect the 787 since its launch in 2011, with the worldwide fleet grounded in 2013 due to overheating batteries in some planes.

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1) In August 2015 a reported 275,000 individual payments failed to be processed by HSBC, which left many potentially without pay before the Bank Holiday weekend. The cause of this major failure was a problem with its electronic payment system for its business banking users which affected salary payments. Bacs is the payment system that is used for payment processes across the UK is reported to have picked up on the issue but noted that it was an 'isolated issue'. 2) The government's online calculator for calculating spouses’ financial worth was hit with a Form E fault meaning that those calculations were wrong for thousands of couples that have been divorced in the past 20 months. According to reports this error has been inflating spouses' finances since April 2014 but was only brought to like in December 2015. According to the Office of National Statistics there were 114,720 divorces in England and Wales in 2013 so the damage that this fault has caused is yet to be fully revealed. 3) In April this year, Bloomberg's London office suffered a software glitch resulting in their trading terminals going down for two hours. This came at a very bad time as the UK's Debt Management Office (DMO) was set to auction a series of short-term Treasury bills (these bills are short-term Government borrowing). In a statement Bloomberg said: "Service has been fully restored. We experienced a combination of hardware and software failures in the network, which caused an excessive volume of network traffic." 4) In June 2015 about 600,000 payments failed to enter the accounts of RBS overnight – including wages and benefit payments. Many took several days to come through. The bank’s chief admin officer said a “technology fault meant we could not ingest a file from a third-party provider” but did not provide much further detail on the root cause. In 2012 6.5 million RBS customers experienced an outage due to batch scheduling software, a glitch for which the bank was subsequently fined £56 million. 5) Back in April Starbucks witnessed a register malfunction which according to Starbucks, was caused by an 'internal failure' during its routine refresh. This resulted in 60 percent of stores in the US and Canada being forced to close. The affected stores were unable to process payment transactions and at one point many stores were giving the coffee away for free.

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Intel Pentium Chips Fail Math

The Pentium floating-point flaw ensured that no matter what software you used, your results stood a chance of being inaccurate past the eighth decimal point. The problem lay in a faulty math coprocessor, also known as a floating-point unit. The result was a small possibility of tiny errors in hardcore calculations, but it was a costly PR debacle for Intel.

Amazon Christmas Glitch

It was quite a surprise for vendors to see their products on sale for just One penny in Amazon marketplace. It was a festive bonanza for shoppers and many picked up items as expensive as mobile phones for just 1 penny. This glitch was attributed to a bug in amazon price comparison software and resulted in $100,000 for the vendors.

Bitcoin Exchange Collapse

Not implementing a feature which keeps track of the transactions proved costly for Mt. Gox ,a Bitcoin exchange when lost $500 million of its virtual currency when someone.

Sony Pictures Entertainment

The computer network infiltration of one of the major Hollywood movie studio, Sony Pictures entertainment where hundreds of confidential documents were stolen and uploaded on file sharing sites highlights the need of more investment in the network security and thoroughly testing the security aspects. This incident could cost Sony millions of dollars and some embarrassment if some hidden data is revealed.
Read more at http://www.gallop.net/blog/top-10-mega-software-failures-of-2014/#xCWtPU9BSJ9XlqEi.99

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1. The software failure was due to a glitch in the airbag's sensory detectors.

In short, the affected cars could not detect whether an adult was sat in the car's passenger seat and as a result the airbags would not inflate. There has been a reported two accidents due to this software failure.

2.

Amazon 1p price glitch

Just two weeks before Christmas, some of Amazon’s third-party retailers in the UK saw their wares reduced to just 1p each thanks to an hour-long pricing software glitch. Eagle-eyed shoppers had a field day, but scores of small businesses were left having to absorb heavy losses. It is still unclear what compensation, if any, they will receive from Amazon.

3.

Emergency numbers go offline for six hours

Emergency services were unavailable for six hours across seven US states last April. The incident affected 81 call centres, meaning about 6,000 people made 911 calls that were unable to connect in Washington and parts of six other states. A study from Federal Communications Commission found an entirely preventable software error was responsible for causing the service to drop.

4.Natwest system failure: the highstreet bank ran into problems earlier this year when system glitches caused chaos, denying ATM, chip and pin and internet banking facilities to customers, who took to Twitter en masse to criticize the company and its handling of the problem. RBS also suffered a similar problem in recent weeks, which has led to some experts talking about the underinvestment in banking IT.

5.

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Software testing is the role of stress testing a piece of software to check there are no issues/bugs. It also tests that functionality is working as it's supposed to. This as a whole stops a piece of software being shipped with problems.

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Software Testing is - testing different features of your program in order to make sure the function properly and make sure there are no bugs.

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Software testing is a procedure taken when developing software, software must be tested to ensure there are no bugs. software must also be tested to make sure that it functions effectively.

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Testing is vital when developing Software. This is so you can find any bugs in your program and so you do not release a piece of software that is broken. It is best that you do not test your own program.

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Software testing is the analysis of software to ensure its functions are capable of its requirements alongside the software being clear of any bugs.

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Software Testing - Testing a program to allowed the developer/user to see if the program operates as it is suppose to. It can also prove the quality of the product to the stakeholders. It also allows you to find any defects in your program before it goes live.

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Software testing is the process of executing a programme with the intent of finding a software bug.

It can also be used to validate and verify that the software meets requirements and works as intended.

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Software testing is a phase within the development life cycle, usually towards the end of the project after the implementation phase. It allows the programmer to improve and edit the code to fix and make the program or web page more functional for the users. It allows the program to be deployed correctly without any bugs and works as expected.

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Software testing is an investigation undertaken by developers and potentially people who hold a stake within the company, to make sure that the product that they have created fits to a suitable standard and fits with the specification, and does not contain any bugs/issues.

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Top software failures 2014: Amazon 1p price glitch

Just two weeks before Christmas, some of Amazon’s third-party retailers in the UK saw their wares reduced to just 1p each thanks to an hour-long pricing software glitch. Eagle-eyed shoppers had a field day, but scores of small businesses were left having to absorb heavy losses. It is still unclear what compensation, if any, they will receive from Amazon.

Top software failures 2014: Emergency numbers go offline for six hours

Emergency services were unavailable for six hours across seven US states last April. The incident affected 81 call centres, meaning about 6,000 people made 911 calls that were unable to connect in Washington and parts of six other states. A study from Federal Communications Commission found an entirely preventable software error was responsible for causing the service to drop.

Top software failures 2014: iCloud hacked

Compromising photos of A-list stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Kirsten Dunst appeared on 4chan and other internet forums last September. Hackers had gained access to the stars’ iCloud accounts using phishing schemes and brute-force guessing. Apple CEO Tim Cook promised to beef up iCloud’s security features to restore user confidence after the hack.

Top software failures 2014: UK airspace closed

Over 150 flights from London airports were cancelled and hundreds more delayed on 12 December last year. A server in Swanwick running the UK’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight data processing system went down as a result of a software flaw. NATS has experienced a number of technical failures since the Swanwick base opened. Worryingly, software experts have warned its systems could collapse again.

Top software failures 2015: 600,000 RBS payments go missing

In June 2015 about 600,000 payments failed to enter the accounts of RBS overnight – including wages and benefit payments. Many took several days to come through. The bank’s chief admin officer said a “technology fault meant we could not ingest a file from a third-party provider” but did not provide much further detail on the root cause. In 2012 6.5 million RBS customers experienced an outage due to batch scheduling software, a glitch for which the bank was subsequently fined £56 million.

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Software testing is a practice mainly employed by developers used for testing a program's various functionalities along with observing any bugs/problems/anomalies it has while making sure it also works as it is expected to.

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Software Testing is - testing different features of your program in order to make sure they function properly.