Cash registers in Poland fail due to new year bug (PL)(translate.google.pl) |
Cash registers in Poland fail due to new year bug (PL)(translate.google.pl) |
http://dangoldin.com/2019/01/06/javas-simpledateformat-yyyy-...
Parking meters: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/nyregion/nyc-parking-mete...
Video games: https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-w...
Now cash registers.
Anything else?
Can anyone familiar with CC processing provide insight on whether that's a reasonable explanation?
Regardless, a problem that requires a "software fix" from the vendor and manual visitations to each individual machine doesn't sound like a mere "setting"
It is not.
https://www.novitus.pl/en/produkty/systemy-fiskalne/delio-pr...
It can be seen that the printer already existed in 2009 and then got something ("Polish Promotional Emblem" according to Google Translate) https://www.novitus.pl/sites/default/files/certyfikaty_tp_55...
Even if it's only one model, if the companies have only that one model of printers they won't be able to sell anything until the printers are serviced.
Effectively, having such a bug in software, even in multiple units of the same model translates to a single point of failure for the company using it.
(I'm assuming these machines aren't all < year old and just break on any new year)
Y2K used to be just an interesting story from the past. Never guessed that it would still be biting people 20 years later. Ouch...
1. Allow customers to download updates and flash over USB.
2. Boot device into a limited mode that allows signed updates. Certificate should be stored in secure memory.
I.e. low wage, minimal training, not technically proficient users with unsupervised physical access to the machine
A machine through which a large amount of cash (virtual or otherwise) flows.
The criteria of (a) being updatable by a semi-technical customer & (b) being secure against technically malicious or socially engineered ignorance attacks seem challenging to simultaneously satisfy.
