Global IT Outage - Y2K Arrives 24 Years Late!

[drahkon]

Wow, I go to a lido once and boom, the entire world goes offline

 

[Will]

2 hours ago, bob said:

She's having the baby right now? Or she's having a baby in general and you're there for a check-up? 

 

 

We’re at the hospital to have the baby, it’s not coming just yet though. Everything still seems to be total chaos, no idea what is going on but one thing I do know is that there is no sign of a baby.

[Glen-i]

6 minutes ago, Will said:

We’re at the hospital to have the baby, it’s not coming just yet though. Everything still seems to be total chaos, no idea what is going on but one thing I do know is that there is no sign of a baby.

The world's IT systems go on the fritz, and the baby is nowhere to be seen?

Hmmm... Mighty suspicious there, to just not show up now.

Edited July 19 by Glen-i

[S.C.G]

11 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Serious question, do people just not carry cash around with them anymore?

 

9 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

 

I just can't bring myself to do that. Just don't trust the stuff.

Businesses that refuse cash simply don't get my business. Boils my blood when you go into a shop and they only accept digital payments. It's legal tender! I feel sorry for elderly people who don't keep up with tech and get turned away because they can't pay with cash or can't get a discount because they don't have an app.

 

8 hours ago, Nicktendo said:

Same, I almost always use cash unless it's a big purchase. 

Cash always, every single day, I will still pay with card to make certain purchases easier to keep track of, but I always encourage the use of cash in my day to day business, and will always take cash when offered it over card payment, especially as having notes and change is useful when you're running a shop.

And it's exactly because of outages like this (among other reasons) why I'll continue to use cash, as if a card payment app fails etc, if the banks are still open, and there are ATM's around then you can carry on paying with cash, at least until the supplies of it run out at the machines, if/when that even happens, which is why it's a good idea to think ahead and carry whatever cash you'll need... at least for the next few days or even up to a week ahead.

I rely on buses to get to work as well, so I pay for a monthly physical ticket in advance, in cash, which I can then use for the month (obviously don't lose it) and save money each day, although... there will probably be a bus strike in Cornwall next week for two days, so I lose out there, but aside from that, there's no downside to using cash, except for having to carry it around, but it definitely keeps you more aware of what you're spending, even if it's all just numbers ultimately, whether you pay cash or card, money is required, so I wouldn't want to be stuck not being able to pay for anything, it's good to have options. 

 

[Eddage]

12 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Honestly? I hardly do myself anymore.  There’s usually just no need to do so when almost everyone accepts card now, even most corner shops do these days.

I’d never put my card details on my phone though, I draw the line there as that’s just lunacy.  Your phone gets nicked or borrowed nefariously? Oh well, you just had your bank account details stolen then!

Yeah, that's really not how it works... If you set up your card to use Apple Pay then it doesn't actually store the details in a way that can be viewed. If the person who steals your phone can even get into it then they can't actually see your details, for example in Apple Wallet it literally just shows the last 4 digits of the card you've set up. Someone stealing your wallet and getting your physical card is a lot more dangerous!

Are you saying you have no apps on your phone that hold any sort of personal data that could be used against you?

As for the cash vs card debate... If it was just notes I wouldn't mind but change is evil.

Literally the only time these days I would use cash is if I was buying something off Facebook Marketplace or had to buy a plumber/builder/other tradesperson and they asked for cash. Cash is so much more convenient - self serve checkouts are a blessing, the less human contact I have to have the better! I don't carry a wallet with me most of the time, just use Apple Pay for most things and my phone case has a couple of card slots on the back so I always have my buss pass and debit card on me for the rare occasion I can't just pay with my phone, although I honestly can't remember the last time that happened.

[Ashley]

I don't know how it works for Apple Pay but for Google Wallet it basically sets up another number. The last 4 digits shown on receipts does not match the card, meaning if you return something and they ask to see they'll have to see the app rather than the card itself. 

And you need to verify payments by unlocking and my banking app needs biometrics to get in and a password to set up a new payee. So overall my first worry wouldn't be about them getting banking access, it's more the personal things. 

Although I did see a news story a while ago about a lot of people being caught out when their phone was stolen and they got into apps by requesting a MFA code that appeared in a text notification on their lock screen which is worth bearing in mind. 

And for the love of god don't set your passcode as a birthday of you or a relative and don't use your kids or pet names in your password. 

[Cube]

I'm off work this week for Ollie's birthday so I completely missed the whole IT outage.

 

As for card payments, I use my phone mainly. Rarely have cash.

 

One great way to increase security for accounts is the ability to put "+whatever" before the @ in a Gmail email address. Makes it a lot more of a faff for a hacker as you essentially have a different email everywhere.