World wakes up to a bug free 2000, no Y2K glitches in India so far

BANGALORE: India joined the rest of the world in welcoming the new millennium without reporting any fault in its computer networks spread across various government and private sectors. According to National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the rollover to the new millennium with respect to the Y2K compliance in the computer systems of major sectors in India was successful.

Nasscom president Dewang Mehta said that of the 11 key sectors, none has reported any disruption of services on account of the Y2K bug. He added that none of the 860 clients of Indian software companies worldwide have so far reported any Y2K related faults in their systems. Of this, about 500 are overseas companies. 

Speaking to CIOL Bureau, Mr Mehta said that though no bug has been reported during the first few days of the new millennium, "one needs to keep a close watch during the next few days." Mr Mehta added, "All banks will open along with various businesses in the next few days and we might hear some small incidences. In any case, till March 31, when the banks close their accounts for the year, we should monitor the situation."

Worlwide too, the software engineers were greeted with pleasant surprise when the last of the western country completed the transition into the year 2000 without any glitches in their networks. 



The United States, the most talked about country as far as Y2K was concerned, reported minor bugs in its satellite spying operation, resulting in the stoppage of data processing for about 2-3 hours. 

Computer Associates reports new-year viruses



Meanwhile, Computer Associates has said that it has identified a few new-year viruses that could wreak havoc on PCs, including one that permanently erases files on hard drives. The viruses are the latest in a series of year-end bugs that are timed to go off when the clock strikes midnight or are associated with the turn of the century. Along with traditional computer bugs, experts have noticed a resurgence in software that can be used for "denial of service" attacks, which prompt hundreds of computers to send messages to a given site or server and knock it out. Of the recently discovered viruses, the "Zelu.Trojan" appears to be one of the more virulent. The virus comes as an executable attachment in an email disguised as a Y2K fix. The executable is named "Y2K.EXE." If it is clicked, a computer's screen changes. At the bottom of the screen are the words "Y2K Copyright (c) 1999-2002 ChipTec."