IP: Computer collapse wipes out British Social Security records -- from RISKS

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Thu, 1 Oct 98 17:12:24 PDT 
From: "Peter G. Neumann" <neumann () chiron csl sri com> 
Subject: Computer collapse wipes out British Social Security records

A major outage of the British Department of Social Security (DSS) national 
insurance register computer system (NIRS) has created a turmoil. Payments 
are being made manually without the usual vetting of eligibility. DSS is 
apparently being very coy about the situation, fearing a flurry of false 
claims. This occurred during the cutover to the new system (being developed 
by Andersen Consulting under a 170-million-pound project, reportedly the 
biggest and most complex information technology project in Europe). DSS 
officials anticipate that NIRS could be down until at least the end of 
October, although Andersen folks think they are close to solving the 
problem. Stay tuned. [Source: An article by David Brindle, Guardian 
Weekly, 20 Sep 1998, p. 10, courtesy of David Stringer-Calver; PGN 
Abstracting]