解决PC机中Y2K问题迫在眉睫

本文讨论了产生Ｙ２Ｋ（千年虫）的根源和解决方案，介绍了威利慧克２０００ 新版软件的工作原理和特点，以及它在解决ＰＣ机硬件平台的２０００ 年过渡中的作用     

Testing for millennium risk management

The Year 2000 conversion is a challenge to the economics of both testing and maintenance, but as a whole we are not responding with balanced priorities. Those looking for Year 2000 solutions typically allocate their first energies and budgets to acquiring automated analysis and conversion deals and services. This disturbing tendency ignores two facts that surface in virtually every analysis of the Year 2000 challenge: fifty percent or more of the effort will be in testing; and despite consuming a wealth of resources each year, current testing practices cannot satisfy the demands of current maintenance unrelated to the Y2K conversion. For the moment, most organizations continue to delay action on the Y2K Test problem while wading through the dozens of available analysis and conversion solutions. As a result, many Y2K projects have started on master plans that will need major revision once the true needs and benefits of testing automation become apparent. A growing number of those projects have already corrected course, revising strategy and reallocating budgets once they appreciated the nature of the Y2K testing challenge. Embarrassment will probably be the least of many worries for those that ignore the challenge much longer     

Twelve reasons why people aren't responding to the Y2K challenge

If you haven't heard about it yet, you've got to be a hermit with no outside world contact. The Year 2000 computer problem — dubbed the ‘Y2K crisis’ by the technical community — is a serious security issue deserving significant management attention and a large share of organizational resources. Nonetheless, study after contemporary study indicates that the massive job of fixing computer systems to prevent Y2K problems is being largely ignored and grossly under-funded. This article explores the psychological and structural problems which prevent adequate attention to and funding for the Y2K problem. The following list of hurdles is offered with the hope that it will be used by the technical community to convince management that Y2K remediation efforts are in fact deserving of significantly more attention as well as significantly more organizational resources.     

Y2K问题对自控系统的影响

计算机“千年问题”并不仅仅危及计算机系统本身,同时也对自动控制系统产生了严重威胁,介绍了“千年问题”及其主要表现、特点以及严重性,分析了它对自动控制系统的影响和我们所面临的形势,最后给出了解决Ｙ２Ｋ问题的一般性步骤。     

Help for cyberterrorism: Y2K's silver lining

We have seen numerous concerted efforts to deal with worldwide problems that potentially affected everyone, such as world wars and health hazards. We are now witnessing a different kind of global mobilization to conquer the Y2K problem. To remedy the Y2K problem, IT departments throughout the world have had to direct enormous resources to perform an in-depth analysis of their computers. We have inventoried software, hardware, and applications; fixed code; replaced noncompliant components and embedded chips; and developed contingency plans. Contingency planning is a major endeavor to ensure continuity of operations even if Y2K bugs persist and cause a system failure. In all this planning is 1st January 2000 the ideal time for a terrorist to strike? So now, as we turn the corner on Y2K, I believe we need to focus on this other large problem: terrorism through cyberspace-cyberterrorism. I consider cyberterrorism to be the use of information technology to disrupt critical infrastructure. Y2K can pay dividends by helping us to protect that infrastructure     

信息系统中的2000年问题及其对策

本文主要针对目前信息系统中广泛存在的２０００年问题,总结并给出了相应的从硬软件平台到应用软件的２０００年问题的解决方案及信息系统２０００年兼容性改造的实施步骤建议,以期给信息系统的世纪过渡提供一些建议和参考     

The Year 2000 Problem: Ethical Implications

As the end of 1990s draws ever closer, organizations are “making the dash to the year 2000 finish line.” Unfortunately, this is no small task. Moreover, the year 2000 concerns of many organizations will not end on January 1, 2000. Systems failures will inevitably occur, and experts predict that the year 2000 (Y2K) problem will lead to numerous lawsuits costing enterprises vast sums of money. With the rise of litigation, it is likely that ethical questions will also be raised about organizations' handling of their year 2000 problems. Among the relevant ethical issues that will be considered is did system developers and their organizations have an ethical obligation to address the year 2000 problem? This question is of great importance whether the developers work for in-house information systems (IS) departments or for software and hardware vendor organizations. This paper takes a detailed look at this issue. This paper also focuses special attention on a typology of factors, derived from models of ethical decision making, that have served to inhibit or facilitate organizational responses to the year 2000 problem. The goal of this analysis is to recognize and remove the obstacles that remain to an effective Y2K response, so that organizations can not only become year-2000-ready, but also become better prepared to ethically, technically, and effectively manage their information assets. In so doing, organizations will be pursuing the prudent, ethical course of action that minimizes their legal exposure, and protects the long-term interests of their stakeholders.     

Bracing for the millennium

In less than 12 months, New Year's Day will put the Y2K-compliance efforts of organizations large and small to the ultimate test on an international scale. As that date nears, awareness of the Y2K Problem's potential for disrupting travel, basic services, and even entire economies has begun spreading to the general public. News programs feature regular reports from self-proclaimed millennium bug experts, consultants eager for publicity utter dire warnings of a computer-generated apocalypse, and stand-up comics even work Y2K into their routines. As the year 2000 nears, we seek one high-profile technology consultant's unique perspective on the consequences, compliance efforts, legends, and hype that surround the Y2K Problem     

The year 2000 bug: a forgotten lesson

While the Doomsday clock ticks down to the year 2000, the many books, articles, sales pitches, and Internet sites dealing with the Y2K problem continue to miss the most important lesson from this so-called bug. Understanding that lesson requires that we find the answers to two questions: why is there a Y2K bug and why has it been ignored for more than 30 years?     

Hello? Is Anybody Out There?

Well, here we are in the Year 2000, at least by one calendar — but we won’t go through that again. So, has the Y2K bug bitten you? I know it’s the last thing you probably want to hear right now. A combination of New Year’s celebrating and Y2K is enough to give anyone enough migraines to last until the next century.     

The process of global knowledge integration: a case study of a multinational investment bank's Y2K program

In this paper we examine the phenomenon of Y2K as an example of cross-functional knowledge integration. We start with the observation that although an enormous amount of investment was made for year 2000 (Y2K) readiness, a smooth millennium rollover has ended with widespread debates about the worthiness of the investment. These debates not only reflect a common perception that the Y2K investment has been a waste of money, but also indicate that organisations often fail to learn from what they have done in the past in order to prepare for future actions. A case study of a multinational investment bank's Y2K program was conducted to analyse its main features and conceptualise the underlying cross-functional knowledge integration process. Based on our findings, we identified the following as the main processes involved in knowledge integration: (1) the penetration of different boundaries to obtain required knowledge and support; (2) the expansion of different paradigms to achieve shared understanding; (3) the reconfiguration of organisational memory to create new organisational routines and knowledge.     

Mechatronics: from the 20th to 21st century

This paper presents a Year-2000 (Y2K) status report of mechatronics. The Y2K definition of mechatronics is “the synergetic integration of physical systems with information technology and complex-decision making in the design, manufacture and operation of industrial products and processes.” Mechatronics may be interpreted as the best practice for synthesis of engineering systems, and it covers a broad area and scope. Vehicle lateral control for automated highway systems, hard disk drives and media handling mechanisms for printing engines are reviewed as examples of mechatronics research. Engineering students should be exposed to mechatronics and to the culture of working in teams.     

Community task forces help mitigate Y2K risks

Several aspects of the Y2K problem are coming into focus. First, not all of the problems will be corrected in all the mission-critical systems. Second, failures could impact commerce, government services, power, communications, transportation, the economy, and other areas. Third, there is a growing concern that Y2K failures may cause havoc in our personal lives. Undoubtedly, millennium anxieties will grow and drive people to act. The issue is whether this action will be constructive or destructive. We have a choice. One perception is that Y2K failures will cause outages, shortages, and a host of other problems. Some people recommend stock-piling food, water, money, and even gold. It is becoming increasingly clear that acting in your own self-interest over the next year will ultimately hurt more than help. For example, each bank carries a small fraction of the cash held by its depositors; a run on banks could cause several to fail. A small percentage of the population buying a couple of weeks' worth of food could clear store shelves. Worst of all, citizens who ignore the Y2K issue until the last minute could panic. Community mobilization offers an alternative to these scenarios     

Dealing with dates: solutions for the Year 2000

The Year 2000 problem is real, though we still don't have a true sense of how extensive it really is. Studies to define the scope of the problem and the costs to fix it have produced widely varying results, causing confusion and concern. It has caught the media's attention and the public's imagination, and it has stimulated aggressive vendor response. Approaches for resolving the problem and managing the risks have tended to focus on how particular tools and vendors can help. The author first discusses the concepts, terminology, and individual aspects of a Y2K effort, then defines a process that an organization can use to address its own Y2K challenge in a forthright and level-headed manner     

Y2K: don't play it again, Sam

Judging by how many Year 2000 press releases cross the author's desk each month, making software Y2K compliant is a booming business. Warnings of calamity mixed with promises of an easy fix-its the same old tune over and over again. How much faith would you have in the legal profession, for example, if legions of attorneys aggressively sought to take on cases that involved suing their fellow lawyers for malpractice? Yet this is uncomfortably like what many in our industry do today: bill clients to fix problems caused by other software developers. If we are ever to be taken seriously as a profession or engineering discipline, we must look past the Y2K hype and hysteria to determine how the problem emerged, why it emerged, and what we can do to avoid similar situations in the future     

采用辅助工具及时解决2000年问题

根据当前解决计算机２０００ 年问题的形势和存在的某些问题,提出如何选择解决方案的一些看法,并进一步提出对计算机系统２０００ 年问题进行测试和修正的策略。     

Editor's Edition

Abstract

What the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporate Finance and Investment Management Staff thinks of the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem may help you convince your management to take this matter seriously. Staff Legal Bulletins generally foreshadow the future rulings of the agency. If your organization has an external audit firm that opines on the financial statements of your enterprise, then it should already have advised your senior management on this matter. The accounting implications, however, may not lead management to a greater understanding of the security issues. Financial audits may not require an understanding of your access control environment — at least not in depth. You may then face several challenges:

• ? Access control software (system, network, and application layers) may have Y2K issues.

• ? Audit logs and historical records on which you rely for incident investigations may have Y2K issues (and some of the measures used to correct the first bullet may cause the new logs to be incompatible with your historical logs making reconstruction difficult; in some cases, the new product deletes, and even overwrites, old log files).

• ? The process followed for correcting Y2K issues may bypass controls because time is short. This surrender to expedience opens a host of opportunities for abuse. Regaining control in the year 2000 may pose its own challenges.

• ? What will either be, or appear to be, Y2K-related failures will provide a smokescreen for unauthorized activities.

• ? Heavy reliance on outside consultants, contractors, outsourcers, and vendors of replacement or upgraded products will further burden your security administrators. Administrators will face increased user-identifier maintenance, resource access rules changes, and possibly, architectural changes affecting the security products themselves. Few organizations have properly budgeted for additional help here.

     

Bracing for zero day [Y2K management]

Your Y2K efforts focus on one goal: ensuring business continuity. Implement the right zero-day strategies to clinch the compliance race. Business continuity planning evolved from contingency planning, which looks at your business operations, imagines what could go wrong, and develops measures for dealing with those emergencies. Ultimately, contingency planning is shortsighted because it focuses on reacting to problems that you could possibly avoid altogether. Further, contingency plans only indirectly address your ultimate goal: ensuring that your business continues to function under any circumstances. By focusing on continuity instead, you work to ensure that events such as power interruptions, vendor dropouts, and systems crashes don't significantly impede your daily operations. If that's not possible, a good continuity plan can still ensure that your operations degrade gracefully. For Y2K, a comprehensive business continuity plan should consist of three components: (i) contingency planning guards against possible failures by putting in place appropriate prevention and mitigation measures; (ii) event management defines the measures to deal with unexpected occurrences like system malfunctions or business problems that arise from computer or software failures; (iii) zero-day strategies are the special actions you take immediately preceding and following the Y2K transition. The author presents guidelines on how to implement these planning strategies     

Year 2000 work comes down to the wire

How much is the year 2000 problem going to cost you? How long is it going to take you to get ready? Can you make it in time? The authors offer some practical advice. They consider how a good project planning and project monitoring tool set will be extremely valuable. Cost estimating tools and models will be very important in answering trade-off questions and keeping a handle on the actual impact of the Y2K remediation effort