House and Senate Invite GartnerGroup to Testify on Y2K Computer Security Risks

Business Wire, August 2, 1999

WASHINGTON DC--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 2, 1999--

Gartner Group Inc. (NYSE:IT) Vice-President and Research Director Joseph Pucciarelli will address the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee's Subcommittee on Technology and the Committee on Government Reform's Subcommittee on Government Management Information and Technology on Wednesday, August 4 at 10:00 a.m. The Congressional hearing, entitled "The Computer Security Impact of Y2K: Expanded Risks of Fraud," will review recently released GartnerGroup research. The findings predict that an electronic theft exceeding $1 billion could occur at a single organization or company due to lapses in security during Y2K remediation. The vulnerability lies in "trap doors" left open in computer systems as programmers fixing the Y2K bug access every area of an organization's systems. A copy of the GartnerGroup testimony can be accessed at www.gartner.com/year 2000.

The GartnerGroup report, based on input from more than 1,000 of the firm's clients worldwide, also outlines risk management plans for the most effective theft and fraud deterrents: 1) identify and assess all Y2K-related theft and fraud risk; 2) reinforce Y2K security and quality control procedures; and 3) review enterprise insurance coverage.

"Y2K is an unprecedented event," commented Pucciarelli. "When you consider the number of people involved in the remediation efforts plus the amount of code being looked at, it's common sense to have strong risk management in place."

Additional research on this topic will be presented this fall at GartnerGroup's Symposium/ITxpo `99, scheduled for Orlando, Florida, October 11-15.

About GartnerGroup

As the world's leading authority on IT, GartnerGroup provides clients with a wide range of products and services in the areas of IT advisory services, measurement, research, decision support, analysis, consulting and training. Founded in 1979, with headquarters in Stamford, Conn., GartnerGroup is at the center of a global community of more than 11,000 client organizations served by analysts in 80 locations worldwide. Additional information about the company is available on the World Wide Web at www.gartner.com.