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6/27/22, 5:06 PM 2021 Cybersecurity and IT Failures Roundup - IEEE Spectrum
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6/27/22, 5:06 PM 2021 Cybersecurity and IT Failures Roundup - IEEE Spectrum
The pandemic year just passed once again demonstrates that IT-
related failures are universally unprejudiced. Companies large and
small, sectors private and public, reputations stellar and scorned:
none are exempt. Herewith, the failures, interruptions, crimes and
other IT-related setbacks that made the news in 2020.
Aviation
Automakers
Cloud Computing
Communications
Cybercrime
Government IT
Health IT
Policing
Rail Transport
Once the travel bans firmly took hold and flying trimmed back to a
minimum, however, there has not been a major IT outage reported
since Delta’s. I suspect this hiatus will not last long, as airline flight
schedules start returning closer to some semblance of “normal,”
perhaps (here’s hoping!) later this year.
Probably the biggest airline IT-related news of the year is the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration’s announcement that the Boeing
737 Max 8 aircraft can resume passenger service once a number of
changes [PDF] are made. This may take up to a year to complete
for all 450 aircraft that were grounded. The FAA Airworthiness
Directive requires “installing new flight control computer (FCC)
software, revising the existing [Airplane Flight Manual] to
incorporate new and revised flight crew procedures, installing new
MAX display system (MDS) software, changing the horizontal
stabilizer trim wire routing installations, completing an angle of
attack (AOA) sensor system test, and performing an operational
readiness flight.” While both Brazil’s and European Union’s
country’s civil aviation administration organizations have given
their approval for the 737 Max to return to flight, some others like
Canada’s, may mandate that additional requirements be met.
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Both Hyundai and Kia Motors, which Hyundai owns a 34% stake
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6/27/22, 5:06 PM 2021 Cybersecurity and IT Failures Roundup - IEEE Spectrum
Legacy IT system worries did not just affect the United States. In
February, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received a
report warning that many mission-critical systems were “rusting
out and at risk of failure.” Japan’s government pledged in June to
modernize its administrative systems, which were criticized for
being “behind the world by at least 20 years.” South Korea’s
government also promised in June to accelerate its transition to a
digital economy.
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6/27/22, 5:06 PM 2021 Cybersecurity and IT Failures Roundup - IEEE Spectrum
Health IT
In May, the U.K.’s National Audit Office reported that the now £8.1
billion IT modernization program being undertaken at the National
Health Service is still a jumbled mess that hasn’t learned the
lessons from its previous failure. Originally a £4.2 billion
program in 2016 that promised a “paperless” NHS by 2020, the
target date keeps getting pushed back, with a final cost likely to be
much higher than currently projected. Additionally in May,
a study published in JAMA Network Open that indicated hospital
EHRs were failing to catch 33 percent of potentially harmful drug
interactions and other medication errors, while in June,
a study published in JAMA indicated more than 20 percent of
patients were finding errors in their EHR notes.
In September, the U.S. Coast Guard began piloting its new EHR
system that is based on the $4.4 billion Department of Defense
Military Health System EHR effort called GENESIS that is planned
to be fully deployed across DoD by 2024. The Coast
Guard terminated its $67 million mismanaged EHR effort in 2018.
In October, after a six month delay, the Department of Veteran
Affairs finally rolled out its initial go-live EHR system at the Mann-
Grandstaff Medical Center in Spokane, Washington. The $16.4
billion troubled EHR modernization project is scheduled to
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billion troubled EHR modernization project is scheduled to
complete in 2028, although delays and increased costs are likely
over the next 7 plus years.
Along with the push against the use of AFR, there has been a
backlash against the use of predictive policing software. For
example, New Orleans, Louisiana and Los
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6/27/22, 5:06 PM 2021 Cybersecurity and IT Failures Roundup - IEEE Spectrum
The biggest news was that after 12-years, 41 U.S. freight and
passenger railroads have met (with two-days to spare) the federal
mandate for deploying positive train control to prevent train
accidents, such as train-to-train collisions, derailments caused by
excessive train speed, train movements through misaligned track
switches, and unauthorized train entry into work zones. Vehicle-
train and track or equipment failures can still cause train accidents,
however. The original deadline was the end of 2015, but that
was date shifted back five years as it became clear most railroads
would not be able to meet the mandate.
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4 JAN 2022
Martin Viller
That's pretty scary to understand that it's 2022 already, but we still face awful
cybersecurity fails https://utopia.fans/tools/the-best-known-cybersecurity-fails/ So
many things were already told about that and people can't learn simple rules to
follow. But on the other hand, hackers also improve every day, so it becomes hard to
secure yourself from all sides.
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FEATURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
BY MITCHELL LAZARUS
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The airline and cellular-phone industries have been at loggerheads over the
possibility that 5G transmissions from antennas such as this one, located at Los
Angeles International Airport, could interfere with the radar altimeters used in
aircraft. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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