The $242 Million Software Error

http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/the-242-million-software-error

by ptrckryn • 15 years ago

28 19 15 years ago

spectrum.ieee.org

machrider• 15 years ago

Speaking of software errors, that link redirects me to the mobile site home (not the article page), so I guess I won't read this story.

jpadvo• 15 years ago

Copy the url, search for it on google, under the article click "options," then "mobile formatted."

iwwr• 15 years ago

Whereas, if the 'risk model' had failed for any other reason, there'd have been no consequences. What's to say their model was correct even on paper? Funnily, nobody would have said anything if the mistake had made money. So, caveat emptor!

smithbits• 15 years ago

"... an independent consultant with expertise in quantitative investment techniques who will review disclosures and enhance the role of compliance personnel."

I assume this is press-release-based and so pretty thin on actual information, but if someone told me they had a $242 million software error and the plan for the future was to "review disclosures" I would not be reassured.

edw519• 15 years ago

There are no software errors, only programmer errors. The computer did exactly what it was told to do.

[Generated by HNCommentGenerator Vers. 2.04 2011-02-11 17:01:44 GMT]

sp3322• 15 years ago

My failing hard drive would like to have a word with you.

thwarted2• 15 years ago

A failing harddrive is a hardware problem.

simonw• 15 years ago

I wonder if it was a formula in an Excel spreadsheet.

moxiemk1• 15 years ago

This site is inaccessible on mobile browsers (or at least iPhone)

It "helpfully" redirects to the IEEE Spectrum mobile homepage. If you are making a mobile version of a site, please don't redirect blindly. I followed a link, I expect to go there.

EDIT: thankfully, the article was recent and a link to the mobile story shows up on the page we get redirected to.

jarek3• 15 years ago

Yeah, hate it when the websites do that. It's even more fun when you're on a desktop and they 'detect' you're on mobile anyway!

juiceandjuice• 15 years ago

While software risks should ideally not be included in part of those risks, investing has some inherent level of risk.

Once society finally grasps that, we'll hopefully be better off. Not condoning what these guys did by any means, but caveat emptor for sure.

jcromartie• 15 years ago

I can't wait until the finance industry is subject to risk. I mean, yeah, you can lose your job... but you'll always retire on piles and piles of money as a finance exec.

n72• 15 years ago

Guess they shouldn't have written those unit tests.

jarek3• 15 years ago

$242M? Meh. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_5_Flight_501

regularfry• 15 years ago

That wasn't a software error in the same sense, it was more of a design error.

jarek3• 15 years ago

A very good point. Let's settle for a software engineering error :)

jplewicke• 15 years ago

According to their SEC filing, the source of the error was that they were using both percentages and decimals in the software, and someone thought that a decimal was a percentage. It's surprising how little your risk model does for you when you multiply it by 0.01.

The $242 Million Software Error

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