Reset your computer clock (just before 1 Jan 2000) - e.g. back one week or
more, so that you have time to assess the situation from news reports. Of course, this will only help for viruses
that 'attach' to a computer date.
Remember that DAT file updates for anti-virus programs are usually only released
once a month, and any new extra virulent strains of virus may not be
detected until you get the new update.
Good luck, and don't forget to back-up your data! After running this quick
little test, much to my surprise, I learned that MY computer would have failed on 01-01-2000 do to a computer date/clock
glitch.
Here is a quick fix.
From your Desktop: Double click on "My Computer."
Double click on "Control Panel."
Double click on "Regional Settings" icon.
Click on the "Date" tab at the top of the page. Where it reads, "Short Date Sample," look and
see if it shows a "two digit" YEAR. It probably does since that's the Microsoft "default setting"
for Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT.
This date feeds application software and WILL NOT rollover to the year 2000 if set to TWO digit year. It will roll
over to 00. (This could cause failure of software which accesses your computer's date.)
Click on the drop down button to the right of "Short Date Style" and select the option that shows, mm/dd/yyyy.
(Be sure your selection has FOUR Y's showing, not TWO.)
NOW, AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT:
Click on "Apply" first, and THEN click on "OK."
Easy enough to fix, right? However, every single installation of Windows, worldwide, is "defaulted" to
possibly fail the Y2K rollover.
It is estimated that 7 out of 10 people do not know about the Y2K problem.
Of the 3 people that do, only 1 person thinks it will affect them. Many experts say it will not affect just corporations,
but more than 85% of the total population will be severely burdened. It is the Year 2000, and it holds some nasty
surprises for those who are not prepared.
The Year 2000 Problem or Millennium Bug will wreak havoc on more than just
computers. It will affect everything with a microprocessor.
*Own a TV or VCR? 43% will have difficulties working, if they work at all.
*Think your car will start? 38% will not.
*Are your accounts going to be deleted? 76% are at risk.
*Are you or anyone you know dependent on a health care device?
**Over 30 devices have already been identified to fail.**
The airlines are so concerned they are considering a Two month holiday from
flying.
The cost to fix the problem is in the $600 billion range.
WHO WILL PAY? YOU WILL. Unless you are ready.
House adds $1.6 billion
to DOD Y2K funding
June 8, 1998
The House Appropriations Committee pumped an extra $1.6 billion in "emergency"
funding into the Defense Department's efforts to fix the Year 2000 problem in its thousands of computer systems
and to enhance computer security.
The Year 2000 funding consists of an "emergency appropriation that does
not come out of DOD's regular budget," a spokeswoman said. An industry source said he thought most of the
emergency funding would go to Year 2000 work rather than computer security because Deputy Secretary of Defense
John Hamre "has made a strong case that [the Year 2000] is a national and computer security issue of paramount
importance."
Hamre last week told the Senate Authorization Committee that the Pentagon has
expended more than $1.9 billion "out of hide" to fix Year 2000 problems in its information systems. This
has forced DOD to defer similar expenditures on the development of new systems, Hamre said.
- Bob Brewin
Copyright 1998 FCW Government Technology Group
Y2K upgrades
may lead to new trouble
From common thievery to threats of terrorism, the mass upgrading of computers
to avoid potential collapse after Dec. 31, 1999, is creating a new set of vulnerabilities to businesses and national
security.
"I'm very concerned," says Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, co-chairman of the Senate Special Committee on
Year 2000. "I think the Y2K experience has opened our eyes as a society to how vulnerable we are. If (Y2K)
could cause this kind of disruption by accident, what kind of disruption could we have if someone sought to do
us harm on purpose?"
What has Bennett and others worried is twofold. First, individuals involved in the upgrade process could sabotage
a system or leave themselves a way to gain control of it later.
Also, most upgrades involve moving away from a variety of software, some unique to an industry or corporation,
and installing commercial, off-the-shelf products, which frequently come to market with unintended bugs that can
be exploited.
"You don't need a malevolent person to take some special action, but merely to make
use of a common weakness," says Fred Schneider, Cornell University computer science professor.
Many firms doing upgrades are hiring outside contractors to make fixes to sensitive systems.
The Gartner Group, a consulting firm specializing in Year 2000 research, is predicting that these third-party upgrades
of code will result in at least one single $1 billion theft or fraud directly linked to Y2K code upgrades.
Gartner's previous Y2K studies are accepted articles of faith, including predictions that from $300 billion to
$600 billion will be spent worldwide fixing the Y2K problem. The price tag likely will exceed $1 trillion with
litigation resulting from Y2K trouble.
"I find the Gartner prediction an understatement," says Tom Noonan, CEO of SSI,
a leading computer security firm . "I don't know that we've found a single case where folks doing (the upgrading
for Y2K) haven't left behind trap doors." Most, Noonan says, are legitimate means for technicians to make
future repairs. Even so, the trap doors could be abused.
Gene Spafford, Purdue University computer science professor, argues for government efforts to improve "buggy"
commercial software. Instead, he says, the government is approving legislation protecting the industry from Y2K
suits. "This continuing trend to shield software companies puts consumers at risk," he says.
