7 May
2001
7 May
'01
7:51 a.m.
On May 7, 15:26, James B. DiGriz wrote:
Trying to get in something at least a little on-topic,
I've heard of
people being killed accidently by industrial robots and such, or the
prospect of the imminent demise of hospital patients due to script
kiddies screwing around with medical records databases or life support
equipment, but does anyone know of an instance where a computer was used
to kill someone? Including military or intelligence cases?
The only documented case I recall immediately is the famous Therac-25 case.
This was essentially a case of misdesign, which led to half a dozen
deaths. A Google search for "therac" or "leveson" will find plenty
of
references.
Some time ago, when I was doing a course on Software Engineering for Safety
Critical Systems, I came across a book with several other reports, but I
can't remember the title or author :-( I don't recall any other fatal
incidents, though.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York