The Y2K Problem

By: Derrick Lee and Megan Stoneberg

ITEC 1001-17

Sonal Dekhane

November 29, 2007

Year 2000 Problem

“Never before in history have we been able to predict the date of a catastrophe…until now.” - Y2K Web site

Areas of Focus

Government Response The Scare Gary North Preparation Outcome Promotion

Name Overview Programming The Y2K Bug Potential Problems Citizen’s Views

Name Abbreviation for the Year 2000 software

problem Acronym accredited by Massachusetts

programmer David Eddy Y = year, k = kilo or 1000 (2k = 2000) Also known as the millennium bug or Y2K bug Millennium bug references millennium roll-over

Overview “The Y2K problem is the electronic equivalent of

the El Nino and there will be surprises around the globe.” - John Hamre, Deputy Secretary of Defense

Widespread concern Failure of critical industries Failure of government functions

Media hearsay/Press coverage fueled public’s fear

Programming Early program design represented years

with two digit placeholders instead of four MM/DD/YY format, i.e. 08/30/99 Widespread practice from early 1960’s to late

1980’s• Cheaper• Saved memory space• Unexpected longevity

The Y2K Bug Hit at the stroke of midnight on December 31,

1999 Most programs could only handle 20th-century

dates When dates turned to ‘00’, computer would

default to 1900 Produce erroneous results Affected dates and times on and after January 1,

2000

The Y2K Bug Inaccuracy of date and time functions

Person’s age calculated by difference between two dates within the same century

Y2K’s calculated difference of 1 Jan 2000 and 31 Dec 1999 = 100 years

Caused incorrect date-related processing Failure of computer systems

Software, firmware, hardware, embedded systems-->domino effect

Potential Problems Affect multitude of software programs, mainly

accounting and databases U.S. Social Security Administration

Near total system failure of Health, Corrections, and Welfare departments Birth dates and records, incorrect prison sentence

expirations, payment delays Critical industries would be hit

Electricity, finance, utilities, banking, manufacturing, telecom, and airlines

Citizens’ Views

The public was divided about the effect Y2K would have on computers Many believed it to be a hoax Some were ignorant of the technology and

oblivious to the hype of the millennium Others feared the worst, believing all

computers worldwide would crash

Government Response U.S. government spent $300+ billion dollars

Three step approach:• Outreach and Advocacy• Monitoring and Assessment• Contingency Planning and Regulation

Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) set Y2K schedules Commonwealth Agencies

• Correction goal of 7/1/98• 9/30/97, 29 agencies were 3 months ahead

Government Response

Special committees monitored progress Installed backup of critical files Schedules, tests, and critical evaluations

performed U.S. Government worked alongside

FEMA and Red Cross Fully staffed/prepared for events of Y2K

Government Response

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

The Scare Computer media professionals aided hysteria

Made warnings/predictions of what was to come• Economic catastrophe• Full-blown Depression

In 1997, The Gartner Group estimated, “the year 2000 problem could cost U.S. business $240 billion dollars…as many as 10 percent of all businesses won’t survive.”

• By 1999, the figure spiked to $600 billion

The Scare Book publishers jumped to advertise Michael Hyatt, wrote The Millennium Bug: How

to Survive the Coming Chaos Marketed mass hysteria Book detailed three scenarios of Y2K: Brownout,

Blackout, Meltdown “In Meltdown, I predict starvation. Without electricity,

telecommunications, and banking…the public will live in a state of terror.”

Gary North

Worst Y2K offender Ran Y2K Forum “The Year 2000 Problem: The Year

the Earth Stands Still” Continuous Y2K promotion

• “The exodus of computer programmers will begin no later than 1999”

• “Months before January 1, 2000, the world’s stock markets will have crashed”

Wrote of “gloom and doom” of the 21st century Predicted Armageddon

Preparations

Public was advised to prepare for disaster By mid-1999, should be prepared with:

• Two to three months of cash withdrawals• Hard copies of bank statement

• In case of banking failure

• Secure residence from intruders• Mass chaos was to ensue• Article in Forbes magazine recommended rural areas “build

hidden rooms to avoid thugs”

Preparations Stockpile essentials:

• Generator• Nonperishable food• Gallons of water• Medical supplies

Outcome No major failures were reported in the United

States or Russia No confirmation that preparation prevented Y2K

bug The U.S. created the “Year 2000 Information

and Readiness Disclosure Act,” to limit liability of Y2K-ready businesses

Attorney’s prepared for numerous class action lawsuits, but none followed

Promotion Apple used the Y2K scare for marketing Macintosh is capable of rendering dates to 2020

Later upgraded date calculation through next 60 millennia

"We may not have got everything right, but at least we knew the century was going to end.” - Science fiction author Douglas Adams, advertising for Mac

Activity Log

Nov. 13, Chose topic Nov. 20, Discussed main points of our

presentation Nov. 29, Derrick e-mailed me his section Nov. 30, Megan put the presentation

together

References http://computer.howstuffworks.com/y2k.htm http://lbfc.legis.state.pa.us/factsheets/Y2K.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2000_problem http://www.fmew.com/archive/y2k/ http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/ http://www.co-intelligence.org/y2k_isitreal.html http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/Y/

Year_2000_problem.html http://www.borderlands.com/y2k/y2khyste.htm http://www.countdown.org/y2k/prepare_2000.htm