The Year 2000 and Biometrics

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> From: Robert J. Brown <rj@eli.wariat.org>
>
> Regarding the so called Millenium problem with computer systems,
> > 
> On the other hand, there is a very real danger to financial systems.
> The colapse of the financial industry because of this bug could just
> be the trigger to cause the world to want a one-world ruler to come in
> a solve the monetary mess that would result.

me: Planning for the century change date (CDC) has already begun
at many banks, savings institutions and credit unions. The Year 2000
problem presents a number of difficult challenges to financial 
institution management. Information systems are often complex and
have been developed over many years through a variety of computer
languages and hardware platforms. For many financial institutions, 
correction of these problems will be costly *and* complex. Our bank
holding company, and it's seven affiliate banks, began our CDC project
in early 1997. The following *briefly* describes the discovery, planning
and
implementation process involved:

1.) Awareness Phase - we established a Year 2000 program team to 
    develop an overall strategy that encompasses in-house systems,
    service bureaus, vendors, auditors, customers, and suppliers.
2.) Assessment Phase- to assess the size and complexity of the
    problem holding company wide. This phase must identify all
    hardware, software, networks, ATM's and other various processing
    platforms, and customer and vendor interdependencies affected
    by the Year 2000 date change. (we are completing this phase now)
3.) Renovation Phase- this phase includes code enhancements, 
     hardware and software upgrades, system replacements, vendor
     certification, and other associated changes.
4.) Validation Phase- Testing, Testing and MORE Testing!!!  
5.) Implementation Phase - In this phase, systems should be 
    certified as Year 2000 compliant and be accepted by the business
    users. 

Federal and state banking regulators have mandated that the 
financial services industry "get it's act together" and be in
compliance by the Year 2000. During a recent FDIC Safety 
and Soundness Examination I was questioned at length regarding
the steps our bank has taken toward resolving Year 2000 issues. 
Most financial institutions are well into the "assessment" phase of
their Year 2000 project. It is an overwhelming task, but I believe
the majority of  financial institutions in North America will succeed
in resolving CDC problems in mission-critical systems. I certainly
concur with your statement that "the collapse of the financial 
industry because of this bug could just be the trigger to cause 
the world to want a one-world ruler to come in and solve the 
monetary mess that would result". I truly hope we all are ready.
We haven't even discussed advancements in technology such as
 *biometrics* ( a term which describes automated methods of
 establishing someone's identity) whereby many banks can now 
"identify" their customers by scanning the iris, or retina,  of their
 eyes, finger imaging or fingerscanning. There are also quasi-behavior
 attributes which can be measured---how one speaks, or how one 
writes, are two in use.  Then there is facial recognition, in which 
the image of a person's face is stored digitally when the persons
opens an account. At each transaction, a tiny camera feeds
a live image of the person to a database which compares the
image to the one stored and to the account number. 

As a banker, this new technology is exciting. As a Christian, it
is just another sign that we are in the LAST days. I am anxiously
waiting HIS return. 

 Sis Donna L. (don't know much about bell curves, and towers, 
but I do know banking) Perine
fmbritchie@citynet.net