Wired: History's Worst Software Bugs

Blue Velvet · Nov 10, 2005

Here, in chronological order, is the Wired News list of the 10 worst software bugs of all time so far.

1982 -- Soviet gas pipeline. Operatives working for the Central Intelligence Agency allegedly (.pdf) plant a bug in a Canadian computer system purchased to control the trans-Siberian gas pipeline. The Soviets had obtained the system as part of a wide-ranging effort to covertly purchase or steal sensitive U.S. technology. The CIA reportedly found out about the program and decided to make it backfire with equipment that would pass Soviet inspection and then fail once in operation. The resulting event is reportedly the largest non-nuclear explosion in the planet's history.

http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,69355,00.html

Les Kern · Nov 10, 2005

They are certainly big bugs, but for the "average" computer user... well, can you say "Word 6 for Mac"?

iGary · Nov 10, 2005

Les Kern said:
They are certainly big bugs, but for the "average" computer user... well, can you say "Word 6 for Mac"?

I bet Les has seen some bugs in his day.

aloofman · Nov 10, 2005

Isn't a bug usually an unintentional software error? If the CIA did do it on purpose, I'm not sure it counts as a bug. Maybe more like a trojan horse?

Les Kern · Nov 10, 2005

iGary said:
I bet Les has seen some bugs in his day.

Ugly, ugly ones. Okay, it's true... I am INCREDIBLY old. But how did you know? Word 6 reference? Man, I'm so old I used a slide rule in High School.

Blue Velvet · Nov 10, 2005

Les Kern said:
Man, I'm so old I used a slide rule in High School.

So did I.

It was compulsory in secondary-school maths... also remember (and have completely forgotten about) log tables too.

Lord Blackadder · Nov 10, 2005

That Soviet Pipeline incident woulkd be a great starting point for a Tom Clancy book.

I think Internet Explorer should be on that list as well.

pinto32 · Nov 10, 2005

Believe it or not, the slide rule is still taught... grautuated high school in 2002 and learned about it in Trig.

MongoTheGeek · Nov 10, 2005

Lord Blackadder said:
That Soviet Pipeline incident woulkd be a great starting point for a Tom Clancy book.

I think Internet Explorer should be on that list as well.

Something like Red Storm Rising perhaps...

aloofman · Nov 10, 2005

MongoTheGeek said:
Something like Red Storm Rising perhaps...

I was thinking the same thing. The prologue is the destruction of an oil refinery that forces the Soviet Union to secure energy resources by, er, other means.

Lacero · Nov 10, 2005

Where's Microsoft in the list? It spans 1990 - present.

emw · Nov 10, 2005

aloofman said:
Isn't a bug usually an unintentional software error? If the CIA did do it on purpose, I'm not sure it counts as a bug. Maybe more like a trojan horse?

Allegedly. If they didn't do it, then, well, I guess it was a bug.

devilot · Nov 10, 2005

pinto32 said:
Believe it or not, the slide rule is still taught... grautuated high school in 2002 and learned about it in Trig.

What is it?!

iMeowbot · Nov 10, 2005

pinto32 said:
Believe it or not, the slide rule is still taught... grautuated high school in 2002 and learned about it in Trig.

Do they make the real ones any more, or just the plastic stuff now? I still keep a old Pickett around, you never know when you'll need a nice, heavy blunt chunk of metal.

devilot said:
What is it?!

Twenty bucks, same as in town.

MrSmith · Nov 10, 2005

Wow. Takes me back. I did my O Levels in England in 1981 (16 yo) and we used log tables. Calculators were FORBIDDEN. We could use calculators for the A levels (18yo) though. Log tables were a pain. We learnt HOW to use them, but not WHY they worked. Life was one big senseless routine... So nothing's changed really

Coincidentally, I was thinking about sliderules the other day. Time to Google/Wiki, I think.

Mr. Anderson · Nov 10, 2005

I had to do a little search on that Russian Explosion - and found this - very interesting.

I glad no one was hurt during the explosion, but it is also quite funny in a way since the Russians were stealing the technology in the first place.

D

mms · Nov 10, 2005

pinto32 said:
Believe it or not, the slide rule is still taught... grautuated high school in 2002 and learned about it in Trig.

I learned about it as well, if you mean just mentioning it briefly before going back to our new, fancy TI-84s. I have trouble imagining a modern high school actually teaching kids to use a slide rule as an actual part of the course.

savar · Nov 10, 2005

Les Kern said:
They are certainly big bugs, but for the "average" computer user... well, can you say "Word 6 for Mac"?

I don't know if exploits count as "bugs", but surely the windows RPC/DCOM exploit a year or two ago has to be one of the biggest bugs in history. Affected four major windows platforms (98, NT, XP, and 2000 i believe) at a time when computer ownership eclipses previous growth records.

pinto32 · Nov 16, 2005

We actually learned how to use it, abeit in a limited way I suppose. We spent about a week on it, because we "should know that life can exist without computers." It was kinda cool, unfortunatly, I failed to use it and thus lost it.

macmvn · Nov 16, 2005

If you think you had it bad

We used to have to put them on the bottom of our shoes so we could ski to schoo. Uphill. Both directions.

It was compulsory in secondary-school maths... also remember (and have completely forgotten about) log tables too.[/QUOTE]

SummerBreeze · Nov 16, 2005

mms said:
I learned about it as well, if you mean just mentioning it briefly before going back to our new, fancy TI-84s. I have trouble imagining a modern high school actually teaching kids to use a slide rule as an actual part of the course.

Yep, we talked about it a little bit in AP Calculus before going back to the TI-89 calculators (which I played frogger on...), ah I love technology. Of course college math classes don't allow calculators, but I'm a Psych major so....

Wired: History's Worst Software Bugs

Moderator emeritus

macrumors 68040

Guest

macrumors 68020

macrumors 68040

Moderator emeritus

macrumors P6

macrumors 6502

macrumors 68040

macrumors 68020

macrumors 604

macrumors G4

Moderator emeritus

macrumors G3

macrumors 68040

Moderator emeritus

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68000

macrumors 6502

macrumors newbie

macrumors 6502a

Our Staff