Tech Tent: BA’s computer meltdown

 

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This week has seen another example of the chaos that can ensue when complex computer systems fail. On Tech Tent we try to draw some lessons from the British Airways IT fiasco.

We also discuss bullying in online games and hear what the criminal underworld is saying about the WannaCry ransomware attack.

Lessons from an IT disaster

Last weekend's catastrophic failure in BA's computer system threw the travel plans of 75,000 passengers into chaos. What went wrong has become a little clearer - it appears the power somehow went off at a Heathrow data centre and when it was switched back on a power surge somehow took out the whole system.

Airline bosses insist that this means the whole incident was a power failure not an IT failure - but experts point out that power management is an essential element of any well-planned IT system.

Bert Craven of the consultancy T2RL, who has designed systems for major airlines, tells us the real question is whether the airline had what he calls geo-redundancy. 

"This is a duplicate mirrored system in a data centre at a distance. Clearly either that was not the case or there was also a problem with the geo-redundant system at the same time - a perfect storm."

He reckons every airline IT executive will have been hauled out of their bed last weekend to be asked: "Could this happen to us?"

Passengers may be tempted to ask whether it would be simpler to abandon the computers and return to paper. Mr Craven tells us that until a few years ago, airports were in the habit of printing out passenger manifests and other documents at the beginning of the day just in case things went wrong.

These days however there is just too much real-time data involved in running complex airline operations for that to be feasible. Only computers can make modern air travel work, and when they fail it is like throwing sand into the machine.

Rough Games

We are all sadly familiar with the problem of abuse and bullying on social networks. But this week the anti-bullying charity Ditch The Label published research showing the extent of the problem in online video games.

Its survey, carried out through the online game Habbo Hotel, showed more than half of young gamers reported that they had been subjected to hate speech while playing online. Bailey Mitchell, 16, told me he'd first experienced abuse when he was 10. 

And it was more than just banter - he was told to kill himself after scoring a goal in Fifa. Nowadays, he says, he can shrug it off, but when he was younger he'd come home from being bullied at school expecting to escape into a game, only to face abuse there too.

The games industry was a bit sniffy about the charity's report, unconvinced that Habbo Hotel was the right place to get an overview of the gaming scene.

Jo Twist of the British games body Ukie tells us that the industry is already acting responsibly, using everything from AI and semantic analysis to human moderators to detect abuse.

"Players are our lifeblood," she says. "We use all sorts of tools to make sure they have a safe experience."

But she says it's also up to players and parents to take responsibility. "There are games that are suitable for everybody - and some games are only suitable for 18-plus audiences."

WannaCry and the Underworld

It's still not clear who was behind last month's WannaCry ransomware attack, which affected organisations around the world, including hospitals here in the UK. But whoever it was, it seems the criminal underworld was not happy about it.

Andrei Barysevich is a cyber-security researcher at the Recorded Future threat intelligence company, who works as a consultant to the FBI and spends a lot of time monitoring the dark web.

He tells us that criminal hackers were not at all impressed by the high-profile nature of the attack - and were particularly angry about hospitals and police forces being attacked. Not because they were squeamish, you understand, but because governments and law enforcement agencies are on the warpath - and that has put criminal hackers in the spotlight.

It seems there was even a meeting of elders of the criminal underground, at which they all declared that this attack was nothing to do with them. It seems that WannaCry was probably hatched by a relatively amateur group of hackers who may have been surprised by just how much mayhem they unleashed.

It is as if a nuclear weapon fell into the hands of a group of teenage pranksters who thought it was just a firecracker - not an entirely reassuring thought.

BBC NEWS

 Obama avoids crowds outside Edinburgh     charity dinner

Former US president Barack Obama has given a speech at a charity dinner in Edinburgh, addressing an audience made up largely of business leaders.

The event was organised by the Hunter Foundation, set up by the philanthropist Sir Tom Hunter.

Thousands of people gathered at the venue but were disappointed when Mr Obama avoided the front entrance.

The former president had visited St Andrews earlier, playing a round of golf on the Old Course.

Mr Obama had arrived in Edinburgh by private jet, on what was his first visit to Scotland.

A large crowd outside the charity dinner were told by police that Mr Obama would not be making a public arrival.

 Stewart Kermack, 61, from Prestwick, said: "I came especially to see Obama. I think he is a great guy and was a very charismatic leader."

Jody Mulvey, 20, from Edinburgh said: "I'm disappointed we didn't get to see Obama but I understand after everything that's going on right now."

The dinner at the EICC is thought to be one of his first major addresses since his term as president came to an end.

Tickets for a table of 10 at the event are understood to have cost about £5,000.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was at the dinner.

Although the media were not allowed inside, Mr Obama is reported to have said that in times of inequality people turn to simplistic and populist answers on the left and the right.

He also spoke about the Manchester bombing, saying it is not possible to solve lone wolf attacks perfectly.

If someone is determined and willing to die, he said, it is almost impossible to prevent that entirely.

All of the cash raised at the dinner will be split between children's charities in Scotland and the Obama Foundation.

Security was tight in Edinburgh as police stepped up resources around major events in the wake of the Manchester bombing.

Comedian Kevin Bridges, singer Annie Lennox and Scottish band Texas provided entertainment at the event and young people were also involved.

Thirteen-year-old Mila Stricevic, from Glasgow, read a poem after winning a schools competition.

Mr Obama, a golfing enthusiast, had been joined in St Andrews by Sir Tom Hunter, whose charitable foundation had invited Obama to speak in Edinburgh.

After completing the third hole, Mr Obama spoke to the crowd who had been following him around the course.

He shook hands with people and asked them how they were doing before heading back to play golf.

The Hunter Foundation has previously arranged for US politicians and actors including Bill Clinton, Leonardo DiCaprio and George Clooney to come to Scotland.

Last year, Leonardo DiCaprio travelled to Edinburgh to speak at the Scottish Business Awards at the EICC.

Announcing Barack Obama's visit in April, Sir Tom said: "From the south side of Chicago to the White House has been an epic, historic journey and it will be a true honour to hear that story from the man who made that journey.

"We are both truly proud and delighted to be hosting the 44th president of the United States in Scotland at this event."

BBC NEWS

      Teenager stabbed to death in Peckham

A 17-year-old boy has been stabbed to death in a street attack.

Abdirahman Mohamed was killed on Southampton Way in Peckham, south London, just after 23:00 BST on Friday, close to the Tesco Express store.

Despite efforts to keep him alive he was pronounced dead at the scene. No-one has been arrested and police are appealing for witnesses.

Abdirahman, from Camberwell, is the eighth teenager to be stabbed to death in London so far this year.

Det Ch Insp Diane Tudway said: "Abdirahman's family are utterly devastated and cannot understand why he has been taken from them in what is such a senseless act of violence.

"The motive at this time is unclear and we are retaining an open mind as to why Abdirahman was stabbed."

BBC NEWS

                   Weather warnings explained

BBC Weather carries National Severe Weather Warnings which are issued by the Met Office. These warning triangles appear in our national and local weather broadcasts when extreme weather conditions are forecast.

The warnings are colour-coded, with the colours reflecting the likely impact of the predicted weather.

A yellow warning is the lowest level, rising in severity through amber to red for the most severe weather.

You would probably see a red triangle used two or three times a year, whereas yellow triangles could appear several times in the space of a week.

Forecasters need to look at two things when issuing a weather warning. How severe will the weather be and how confident are they that it will happen? Plug this into a grid and you come up with the level of warning. Let's have a look at a couple of examples.

Light snow, confident forecast

In this scenario, there is a confident forecast of light snow showers so it is very likely that snow will fall, but the amounts of snow are expected to be small so the impact should be fairly low.

A yellow warning is issued, which would only go up to amber if the forecast changed to heavier snow.Heavy snow, high level of uncertainty

In an alternative scenario, a weather front pushing in from the west is expected to produce rain, but there is a risk of this turning to heavy snow at some point as it meets colder air.

The potential impact of the snow is fairly high, but there is also a high degree of uncertainty in the forecast so initially a yellow warning is issued. This could move up to amber nearer the time as confidence in the forecast increased.

So whenever you see the warning triangles appearing on our broadcasts it is worth not just taking an extra interest in the forecast, but also looking out for updates as the warning level could change

BBC NEWS

        In pictures: London Bridge attack

 Images from the scene of the major police operation in central London..

 

 The surrounding area was closed to the public

 

Manchester attack: Chloe Rutherford and Liam Curry confirmed dead 

A teenage couple killed in the Manchester Arena explosion "adored each other", their families have said.

"Inseparable" Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, from South Shields were among 22 victims killed in Monday's suicide bomb attack.

The pair were described as "perfect in every way for each other" by their relatives in a joint family tribute released through police.

"They wanted to be together forever and now they are", it added.

The statement, posted on Facebook, said the couple "lived to go to new places together and explore different cities".

Chloe described herself as "ditzy", her family said, while Liam "would do anything for [her], including dealing with Chloe's demands for chocolate".

Mr Curry's father Andrew died suddenly in March.

The Union flag above the town hall in South Shields is flying at half mast as a mark of respect for the pair and the other 20 victims of Monday's attack.

The leader of South Tyneside Council, Iain Malcolm, said the whole area was "feeling the loss and sharing the pain" with the families of the couple.

He said: "Liam not so long ago undertook a 260 mile cycle ride to Paris for the Bobby Robson Foundation. Chloe was a talented actress who appeared on the stage at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.

"This was a young couple who were doing nothing but enjoying their life and enjoying each other's company and it's just desperately, desperately sad for South Tyneside and particularly for their families.

"Chloe and Liam had so much to look forward to and were simply enjoying life at a pop concert.

"We are absolutely devastated by the tragic injuries and loss of innocent young lives in such a callous and cowardly attack."

Mr Curry, a former pupil of Gateshead College, was studying for a degree in sport and exercise science at Northumbria University.

The university, college and Mr Curry's former school, St Wilfred's RC college in South Shields, separately paid tribute to him as a conscientious student and a "fine young man".

He was very well liked and would be missed, they said.

Marsden Cricket Club, where Mr Curry was a member, said: "Liam has been part of the club from the age of just six and we have all seen him develop into an incredibly strong and mature young man, supporting his family through the loss of his father Andy earlier this year.

"He was developing into a fine cricketer and coach and was undoubtedly going to be part of our first team for many years to come.

"Chloe, like Liam, was an incredibly strong person. Quiet but not shy, she was a pleasure to be with around the club."

Miss Rutherford's employer, Westoe Travel in South Shields, described her as "part of the family"

A spokesman said: "This is something we will never be able to understand. When you watch these events on television you never expect them to impact on those around you.

"As a small family business, Chloe was part of our family, working part-time as she completed her college studies before starting full-time with us on 26 June to begin her travel apprenticeship.

"We loved her friendly happy personality and she was a great asset and had a great future ahead in the travel industry, which she was really looking forward to.

"Liam would meet her from work and they were a perfect loving couple.

"The families have lost two beautiful young people who were a credit to them and our thoughts and prayers go to both families at this terrible time."

Staff at cancer charity the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, for whom Liam Curry had fundraised, said they were "devastated".

"Liam was an outstanding young man and a great credit to his family," a statement said.

"At 14, he began fundraising for us after his granddad, Jack Allen, was diagnosed with cancer and he proudly completed a Coast to Coast cycle ride.

"Cruelly, his dad, Andrew Curry, was also diagnosed with cancer and died in March this year."

Image copyright Sir Bobby Robson Foundation

 

 The foundation's statement said Liam had continued to fundraise during his father's illness, doing a 260 mile sponsored cycle ride from Calais to Paris and a Great North Run.
"No words can adequately convey feelings at a time like this," it said.
Northumberland County Council has opened a book of condolence for all victims of the attack.









BBC NEWS

      Opioid crisis: The letter that started it all 

Canadian researchers have traced the origins of the opioid crisis to one letter published almost 40 years ago.

The letter, which said opioids were not addictive, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 1980.

Dr David Juurlink says the journal's prestige helped fuel the misguided belief that opioids were safe.

His research found that the letter was cited more than 600 times, usually to argue that opioids were not addictive.

On Wednesday, the NEJM published Dr Juurlink's rebuttal to the 1980 letter, along with his team's analysis of the number of times the letter was cited by other researchers.

"I think it's fair to say that this letter went quite a long way," Dr Juurlink, who is head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

The original letter, titled "Addiction Rare in Patients Treated with Narcotics", was just a paragraph long. The lone evidence cited was an anecdote that out of 11,882 hospitalised patients were treated with narcotics, only four patients with no history of addiction became addicted.

This paragraph should have triggered a host of red flags, says Dr Juurlink.

The letter only described the effects on hospitalised patients, not on patients who had chronic pain and would need to take painkillers regularly. It also only described the effects of narcotics that are no longer used today - and yet it was cited by many as proof that modern drugs such as OxyContin were safe outside of the hospital setting.

"I don't think it mattered that it didn't say much, what mattered was its title and its publication, and those two things went a long way," Dr Juurlink said.

It is now widely accepted by medical researchers that opioids are highly addictive, he said. In 2016, the British Medical Journal urged doctors to limit opioid prescriptions in order to combat the overdose crisis in the US and other parts of the world.

• Nine die in Vancouver in 24 hours from fentanyl opioid overdose
• Smack in the suburbs

In 2007, the makers of OxyContin pleaded guilty in federal court to "misbranding" by falsely claiming OxyContin was less addictive and less subject to abuse than other pain medications.

• OxyContin maker settles Canadian class action for C$20m

This week, Ohio became the second state after Mississippi to sue opioid manufacturers for unleashing "a health care crisis that has had far-reaching financial, social, and deadly consequences".

The letter's author, Dr Hershel Jick, says he never intended for the article to justify widespread opioid use, and has testified for the government about how these drugs are marketed.

"I'm essentially mortified that that letter to the editor was used as an excuse to do what these drug companies did," Jick told The Associated Press. "They used this letter to spread the word that these drugs were not very addictive."

Dr Juurlink believes that the misinformation that resulted after the letter's publication would not happen today. Back then, he said, if you wanted to read the original letter, you would need to go to a library. Many of the people who cited the 1980 letter were just plain "sloppy" he said and didn't do their diligence.

Now, it's easy to read the original 1980 letter online, as well as Dr Juurlink's rebuttal.

"It would be taken apart overnight on Twitter", he said.

There is now an editor's note on the original letter in the NEJM: "For reasons of public health, readers should be aware that this letter has been 'heavily and uncritically cited' as evidence that addiction is rare with opioid therapy."

BBC NEWS