Banking Industry IT Systems Hanging On A Thread.

originally posted by: hombero
That's what happens when you're running mainframes with tech from the 70s! COBOL needs to be put to bed....

We're are stuck with short passwords with no symbols to protect perhaps the most important account that we have...

That's not an issue. Even with old 70s legacy systems, you have newer front end systems that have 256 bit password authentication before you even hit the older code.

a reply to: Starbuck799

I've already drained my accounts to the bare minimum because this can happen overnight....I expect over a long weekend, the following work day will be greeted with "nothing is working, not the ATMs, not the readers in the stores, not even gas pumps", so people start to freak and it goes from there.

Banks still have that derivatives mess they lost their butts on, and if it weren't for computers covering it up with fake money (Fractional reserve banking....BAD IDEA), they would have crashed in 2008.

I expect it and am prepared for it, as long as I need to.

originally posted by: FissionSurplus
a reply to: Starbuck799

I've already drained my accounts to the bare minimum because this can happen overnight....I expect over a long weekend, the following work day will be greeted with "nothing is working, not the ATMs, not the readers in the stores, not even gas pumps", so people start to freak and it goes from there.

Banks still have that derivatives mess they lost their butts on, and if it weren't for computers covering it up with fake money (Fractional reserve banking....BAD IDEA), they would have crashed in 2008.

I expect it and am prepared for it, as long as I need to.

You're a smart man. I do the same.

I'm keeping my accounts open though, because a melt-down can make you wealthy, as quickly as it can wipe you out.

If $10 million arrives out of nowhere, it's instant-transfer to ... Where should I transfer it to?

originally posted by: carewemust
I'm keeping my accounts open though, because a melt-down can make you wealthy, as quickly as it can wipe you out.

If $10 million arrives out of nowhere, it's instant-transfer to ... Where should I transfer it to?

The only way that could happen is through human error. Once the system is dealing with your account, it's locked into that unique account number. Money doesn't just get shot around everywhere. This is part of the very low level of a transaction, it is a basic level part of any transaction. The code for that was written in the 60s.

a reply to: Starbuck799

That is where the decision to API a legacy system interface by outsourcing, requires utmost competence of the vendor. It certainly could be verified.

originally posted by: charlyv
a reply to: Starbuck799

Thoughts of a potentially lucrative consulting gig. Offer to be a front end "check out" for a company planning a big project "out there". Some nasty tests could weed out a lot of flak.

It's called pentesting. I know of a department that does just that, but they only do it for those who ask for it to happen. A darker human might subcontract them to do just that, and then follow up with a contract from the department that combats those penetrators...

Cheers

originally posted by: Starbuck799

originally posted by: hombero
That's what happens when you're running mainframes with tech from the 70s! COBOL needs to be put to bed....

We're are stuck with short passwords with no symbols to protect perhaps the most important account that we have...

That's not an issue. Even with old 70s legacy systems, you have newer front end systems that have 256 bit password authentication before you even hit the older code.

I can tell you, that's the theory- not the reality.

originally posted by: Starbuck799

originally posted by: carewemust
I'm keeping my accounts open though, because a melt-down can make you wealthy, as quickly as it can wipe you out.

If $10 million arrives out of nowhere, it's instant-transfer to ... Where should I transfer it to?

The only way that could happen is through human error. Once the system is dealing with your account, it's locked into that unique account number. Money doesn't just get shot around everywhere. This is part of the very low level of a transaction, it is a basic level part of any transaction. The code for that was written in the 60s.

That's too bad. When the IT Systems "crash", everybody's balance goes to $0 ? That will be the end of the world as we know it.

originally posted by: FissionSurplus
a reply to: Starbuck799

I've already drained my accounts to the bare minimum because this can happen overnight....I expect over a long weekend, the following work day will be greeted with "nothing is working, not the ATMs, not the readers in the stores, not even gas pumps", so people start to freak and it goes from there.

Banks still have that derivatives mess they lost their butts on, and if it weren't for computers covering it up with fake money (Fractional reserve banking....BAD IDEA), they would have crashed in 2008.

I expect it and am prepared for it, as long as I need to.

My question to you... Any short term solution?
I'm where you are, but late to the game. Couldn't cash out until now, sitting on a bank account that could evaporate in a day, living in a rental I don't want anything to do with.

I don't trust metals because they would need a resale option, which requires a functional society and monetary system. Only path I see is investing in land- easy to do now should I expect us not to fall apart. I'd need at least five years of stable economy to be ready for what could happen tomorrow.

Only path I see today is to follow the drum beat set by the people planning on screwing the pooch.

Here some off the first warning sign

CIBC FaceBook Page

originally posted by: carewemust
I'm keeping my accounts open though, because a melt-down can make you wealthy, as quickly as it can wipe you out.

If $10 million arrives out of nowhere, it's instant-transfer to ... Where should I transfer it to?

Bitcoin.

a reply to: Starbuck799

She's actually a smart gal...

Y'all wanna read a great thread about banking software?

PRISM, PROMIS, Politics, and Pia -- the mummified woman found dead in Pontiac, Michigan

Dig in to that one and prepare to be blown away.

originally posted by: Starbuck799
This is nothing. The whole banking system has been hanging on a thread for the past 15 years.

Explain what "this" is?

This is the result of massive IT outsourcing.

Again, what is "this"?

I worked at the senior level in the banking industry for over 6 years in more than 3 banks, and I can tell you that the only reason that something like this hasn't happened before is pure luck.

This what?

There have been many, many other IT problems that have happened that the public has not seen that the banking industry has hidden from the public where they have been very lucky that they have been able to contain it.

I've worked in IT for nearly 40 years. I've seen it all. Sh!t happens all the time.

This is not a hack or a security issue. It is a direct result of outsourcing IT to totally incompetent programmers who work from overseas. Mainly South Asia, yes India.

This what?

You should all be prepared for a big IT banking crash one day. I'm not kidding here. I programmed a lot of this stuff, and I can tell you that the outsourcing being done results in programming code that is like a teenager wrote it.

Doom porn... you could say this about any industry.

I can only speak of Canada of course, since this is where I have been working.

www.torontosun.com...

www.cbc.ca...

Nothing in the articles convinces me the banking industry is hanging on a thread.

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti

originally posted by: Starbuck799
This is nothing. The whole banking system has been hanging on a thread for the past 15 years.

Explain what "this" is?

This is the result of massive IT outsourcing.

Again, what is "this"?

I worked at the senior level in the banking industry for over 6 years in more than 3 banks, and I can tell you that the only reason that something like this hasn't happened before is pure luck.

This what?

There have been many, many other IT problems that have happened that the public has not seen that the banking industry has hidden from the public where they have been very lucky that they have been able to contain it.

I've worked in IT for nearly 40 years. I've seen it all. Sh!t happens all the time.

This is not a hack or a security issue. It is a direct result of outsourcing IT to totally incompetent programmers who work from overseas. Mainly South Asia, yes India.

This what?

You should all be prepared for a big IT banking crash one day. I'm not kidding here. I programmed a lot of this stuff, and I can tell you that the outsourcing being done results in programming code that is like a teenager wrote it.

Doom porn... you could say this about any industry.

I can only speak of Canada of course, since this is where I have been working.

www.torontosun.com...

www.cbc.ca...

Nothing in the articles convinces me the banking industry is hanging on a thread.

"This", is the shutting down of the Interac e-Transfer system/service. I thought that was apparent if you read the articles in the OP. The "hanging on a thread", line is my own personal experience in the IT field for over 25 years now, with over 6 of those years working directly in the 5 big banks in Canada at a senior level of their IT departments as a programmer and analyst of banking software.

I work in IT at one of the largest banks in the world. Literally 75% of all Business Analyst / Application Engineer ( programmer) jobs are outsourced to India or Nepal. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is going thru phone and online meetings all day with people whom barely grasp the English language, and absolutely don't speak it well enough to conduct business with such possible dire consequences if something is not fully understood. It's honestly an epidemic in the whole IT industry....and it's all because overseas workers will work for probably half of what a worker from the US will. I was a contractor with the bank until very recently, where I have signed on permanently. I make about 30,000 more a year in actually a lower slot for the same job.

People in IT complaining they cannot find a job need to look at Bank of America, Wells Fargo etc...they're literally thousands of jobs out there if you know where to look. I think the banks would prefer native English speakers, but not enough people apply.

originally posted by: carewemust
I'm keeping my accounts open though, because a melt-down can make you wealthy, as quickly as it can wipe you out.

If $10 million arrives out of nowhere, it's instant-transfer to ... Where should I transfer it to?

A short term high rate interest account

www.telegraph.co.uk...