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Windows 98 hit by millennium bug
Y2K
NEWS
Windows 98 hit by millennium bug PC Week c l a i m s to have d i s c o v e r e d a flaw in Microsoft's Windows 98 which makes the operating system non-Year 2000 compliant. The problem was found in the regional date setting features, which allows users to set the parameters for a 'swing date' that tells the operating system how to interpret twodigit dates. Apparently, system administrators have no way of knowing what parameters users have entered or anyway of standardizing the swing dates.
way for system managers to know or control which swing dates users have set on individual desktops. However, he does make claims that the features can be h i d d e n f r o m users with M i c r o s o f t ' s Z e r o Administration Kit. Weeks said that the parameters in regional date settings would over-write two digit dates in any Win 32 application running over the Year 2000 where the BIOS was not millennium compliant. He was unsure of how swing dates would interact where users were sharing data.
David Weeks, a M i c r o s o f t p r o d u c t m a n a g e r for Windows 98 admitted that from the network there is no
MVS applications Y2K compliant without alteration Sterling Software Inc.'s Information Division has announced it is offering VISION:Phaseshift which provides an easy and reliable way for companies to insulate MVS applications from Year 2000 date issues with virtually no changes to application code or data. The product is based on the premise that if applications never see the year values roll over from '99' to '00', then any associated application logic problems can be avoided. The product encapsulates both application code and data, dynamically shifting dates back in time so that all dates to be processed fall in the same century. VISION:Phaseshift is a language independent, runtime utility which resides between the application and the operating system and automatically intervenes as data is read into an application to shift dates back in time. As data is written from an application, the product again intervenes and shifts dates backward or forward in time as they flow into and out of the application. Because date shifting occurs dynamically at the I/O level, both application programs and data are insulated from change.
For further information, contact Simon Reynolds, Sterling Software on: +44 1784 212000; E-mail: simon_reynolds @sterling, com.
Bug fixes attacked by MPs According to a story in Computing, MPs in the UK have slighted efforts made to solve the millennium bug problem. The watchdog Public Accounts Committee has voiced concern about the efforts of the public sector to become Year 2000 compliant. As part of the report, the MPs called on the G o v e r n m e n t to be prepared to tale "direct action", such as intervening in the running of a public sector body, to prevent severe millennium problems. The watchdog also attacked the efforts made by the NHS Executive and the Medical Devices Agency to fix the bug. The report describes the failure of the NHS to set d e a d l i n e s for a c t i o n in 1996 as a " m i s s e d opportunity". According to the source, MPs were "appalled" that the Medical Devices Agency di~t not realize the risk to patients of failures in medical equipment until late 1997. In related news, Taskforce 2000 has issued dire warnings of millennium chaos, and the UK's Prime Minister has been called on to set up an international bug fix agency with a $500 million budget. A recent survey carried out by Register Larkin found that 62% of companies could not offer customers information about the steps they are taking to tackle the millennium problem.
Computer Fraud & Security September 1998 3723/98/$19.00 © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
NEWS
Windows 98 hit by millennium bug PC Week c l a i m s to have d i s c o v e r e d a flaw in Microsoft's Windows 98 which makes the operating system non-Year 2000 compliant. The problem was found in the regional date setting features, which allows users to set the parameters for a 'swing date' that tells the operating system how to interpret twodigit dates. Apparently, system administrators have no way of knowing what parameters users have entered or anyway of standardizing the swing dates.
way for system managers to know or control which swing dates users have set on individual desktops. However, he does make claims that the features can be h i d d e n f r o m users with M i c r o s o f t ' s Z e r o Administration Kit. Weeks said that the parameters in regional date settings would over-write two digit dates in any Win 32 application running over the Year 2000 where the BIOS was not millennium compliant. He was unsure of how swing dates would interact where users were sharing data.
David Weeks, a M i c r o s o f t p r o d u c t m a n a g e r for Windows 98 admitted that from the network there is no
MVS applications Y2K compliant without alteration Sterling Software Inc.'s Information Division has announced it is offering VISION:Phaseshift which provides an easy and reliable way for companies to insulate MVS applications from Year 2000 date issues with virtually no changes to application code or data. The product is based on the premise that if applications never see the year values roll over from '99' to '00', then any associated application logic problems can be avoided. The product encapsulates both application code and data, dynamically shifting dates back in time so that all dates to be processed fall in the same century. VISION:Phaseshift is a language independent, runtime utility which resides between the application and the operating system and automatically intervenes as data is read into an application to shift dates back in time. As data is written from an application, the product again intervenes and shifts dates backward or forward in time as they flow into and out of the application. Because date shifting occurs dynamically at the I/O level, both application programs and data are insulated from change.
For further information, contact Simon Reynolds, Sterling Software on: +44 1784 212000; E-mail: simon_reynolds @sterling, com.
Bug fixes attacked by MPs According to a story in Computing, MPs in the UK have slighted efforts made to solve the millennium bug problem. The watchdog Public Accounts Committee has voiced concern about the efforts of the public sector to become Year 2000 compliant. As part of the report, the MPs called on the G o v e r n m e n t to be prepared to tale "direct action", such as intervening in the running of a public sector body, to prevent severe millennium problems. The watchdog also attacked the efforts made by the NHS Executive and the Medical Devices Agency to fix the bug. The report describes the failure of the NHS to set d e a d l i n e s for a c t i o n in 1996 as a " m i s s e d opportunity". According to the source, MPs were "appalled" that the Medical Devices Agency di~t not realize the risk to patients of failures in medical equipment until late 1997. In related news, Taskforce 2000 has issued dire warnings of millennium chaos, and the UK's Prime Minister has been called on to set up an international bug fix agency with a $500 million budget. A recent survey carried out by Register Larkin found that 62% of companies could not offer customers information about the steps they are taking to tackle the millennium problem.
Computer Fraud & Security September 1998 3723/98/$19.00 © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved