From the article: "a software flaw in the trading system that allowed contestants to register stock trades before the 4 p.m. trading deadline and then execute some of the trades later in the evening"
This does *not* sound like "cheating by computer hacking" to me except in the most vaguest 'he used a computer' terms. While this does sound like cheating, the report makes it sound like the programmer forgot to disable after-hours buying. However, nothing in the report suggests that the contestants actually compromised the system or did any action that differed from regular and expected game play.
"Integrity is paramount to CNBC" -- I find that funny (but it would be funnier if it came from FOX). If integrity is paramount, then why didn't they start the investigation after the first complaint? It appears that they waited until after the game completed. As one contestant reported: "I figured out very quickly what was going on-and they were looking at all the trades," says Kraber. If a contestant could figure this out, then an investigation should have seen this too. At minimum, they could have quickly blocked after-hours trading or warned contestants that this would lead to disqualification.
Their news brief says, "we immediately launched a thorough investigation". However, this is contradicted by the BusinessWeek report where contestants reported the problem during the contest and were rebuffed by CNBC. Perhaps CNBC wanted to use this as an excuse to not award the $1 Million prize.
This does *not* sound like "cheating by computer hacking" to me except in the most vaguest 'he used a computer' terms. While this does sound like cheating, the report makes it sound like the programmer forgot to disable after-hours buying. However, nothing in the report suggests that the contestants actually compromised the system or did any action that differed from regular and expected game play.
"Integrity is paramount to CNBC" -- I find that funny (but it would be funnier if it came from FOX). If integrity is paramount, then why didn't they start the investigation after the first complaint? It appears that they waited until after the game completed. As one contestant reported: "I figured out very quickly what was going on-and they were looking at all the trades," says Kraber. If a contestant could figure this out, then an investigation should have seen this too. At minimum, they could have quickly blocked after-hours trading or warned contestants that this would lead to disqualification.
Their news brief says, "we immediately launched a thorough investigation". However, this is contradicted by the BusinessWeek report where contestants reported the problem during the contest and were rebuffed by CNBC. Perhaps CNBC wanted to use this as an excuse to not award the $1 Million prize.
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/newsbriefs/521/1976#1976