10 Of The Most Costly Software Errors In History

SafeBytes Software

The term "software" in computing refers to the instructions and programs that are used by a computer. Although we take software for granted, its history is littered by a number of costly errors. Here are ten of them.

The Loss of the NASA Climate Orbiter

A failure by a contractor to make a conversion from English units to metric units ultimately ended up costing NASA over $125 million dollars due to the loss of its Climate Orbiter spacecraft in 1998.

Explosion of a Gas Pipe in the Soviet Union

In 1982, the CIA is said to have gotten wind of the fact that the Soviets were trying to steal software that was used to control gas pipelines. Working with the Canadian creators of the software, the agency installed bugs onto the program, leading to a serious pipeline explosion when the Soviets ultimately stole and used the defective software.

Robert Tappan Morris and His Worm

In 1998, Robert Tappan Morris created a software program that ultimately spread and crashed thousands of computers as a result of errors in coding.

This was the first instance of a worm being used to attack computers, and Morris was convicted and fined $10,000 for the attack.

Knight's Error

Knight, one of the United States' largest stock brokers, lost over $440 million dollars in half an hour due to a software bug. The faulty software is said to have flooded the market with erratic trades on nearly 150 different stocks.

Buggy Pentium FDIV

A faulty processor, which had been publicized by a professor of mathematics, is reported to have cost Intel $475 million dollars in replacement costs in 1994.

Patriot Missile Error

In 1991, when a US missile defense system failed to detect an attack on an army camp in Saudi Arabia, investigations revealed that a software problem had produced inaccurate tracking data. The attack led to 28 American military personnel deaths.

Mariner 1

The Mariner 1, which was on a trip to Venus, didn't make it into orbit due to coding errors that made it fly erratically. This led NASA to issue a self-destruct command for the craft with later investigations revealing that a missing hyphen in coded computer instructions led to the issuing of incorrect guidance instructions to Mariner 1.

Terminal 5 Opening at Heathrow

On opening day, it was discovered that the baggage handling system at Heathrow Terminal 5 could not cope, despite the exhaustive tests that had been made beforehand. This led to the cancellation of over 500 flights.

EDS Child Support System

EDS issued a complex child support system in the United Kingdom at the same time when the Department for Works and Pensions was restructuring the agency. This led to incompatibilities that led to chaos across the system.

Ariane 5 Flight 501

The Ariane 5 rocket used software from the Ariane 4, which led to problems mainly due to the fact that the Ariane 5 had faster engines. The explosion of the craft, which had been developed at a cost of $8 billion dollars, led to the loss over $500 million dollars in equipment.

A Costly Error that You Can Make: Not Taking Care of Your System

All these costly software errors point to the importance of optimizing your computer. That is why we recommend that you scan your system with TotalSystemCare from SafeBytes.

TotalSystemCare is a complex PC performance utility that is light on your computer's resources. It not only helps boost its speed but also fixes and prevents registry errors while protecting your privacy by detecting tracking cookies and adware.