Happy accidents? These companies lost millions to human error

To err is human

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

The Latin phrase “Errare humanum est,” which literally means “To err is human,” reminds us that making mistakes is intrinsic to human nature, so we must accept them and learn from them.

Mistakes that cost dearly

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

However, human errors can be very costly. Throughout history, several have resulted in huge losses for companies. Here are a few.

Image: David Pupăză / Unsplash

A simple slip, responsible for serious damage

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

With the advent of the Internet and e-commerce, technical failures are common. But sometimes, human responsibility also plays a role. A simple mistake can lead to financial damage for a company.

Photo: Christin Hume / Unsplash

The Alitalia case

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

An example is what happened to the Italian airline Alitalia. In 2006, a mistake led to the company offering flights from Canada to Cyprus for 39 Canadian dollars, about 29 US dollars, instead of $3,900.

Photo: Miguel Angel Sanz / Unsplash

A failure that cost 7.4 million

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

The error was posted on a travel forum, and the company sold around 2,000 tickets within a few hours. It tried to cancel them, but the flight carrier eventually gave up. This error, as the BBC recalls, cost Alitalia $7.4 million.

Photo: Marcel Pirnay / Unsplash

300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

A trader in London accidentally entered an extra zero in a transaction. The mistake triggered a sell-off within seconds, suddenly causing the Swedish stock market to fall by 8%.

Like a virus

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

The unrest spread to the rest of the European indexes, causing a loss of up to €300 billion in market capitalization.

Samsung also made a mistake

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

A few years earlier, in 2018, South Korean company Samsung Securities wanted to pay its employees 1,000 won (82 cents) per share in a dividend distribution.

1,000 shares

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

However, it mistakenly distributed 1,000 new shares to them. This operation caused the value of its shares to fall by 12% in just a few minutes, as the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported.

The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

Another recent episode involved the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, one of the largest in the world, which lost 86 million euros due to a simple human error using Excel.

An incorrect cell in Excel

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

A Norges Bank employee entered an incorrect date into a spreadsheet, which caused an error in the index. The company did not detect the mistake until several months later.

Photo: Samuel Sianipar / Unsplash

NASA also failed

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

NASA also made a mistake in 1999. According to the BBC, Lockheed Martin engineers used the British Imperial system instead of the metric decimal to calculate the Mars Climate Orbiter probe launch.

Destroyed a probe

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

According to experts, the mistake made the probe pass through at only 57 km (35 miles) instead of 150, causing its destruction due to the inhospitable environment surrounding it, as the BBC explained. The estimated losses were 125 million dollars.

Mistakes that benefit employees

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

But not all mistakes have dramatic consequences. Sometimes, they can cost companies dearly but benefit their employees.

Photo: Alexander Gray / Unsplash

A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

The Chilean Food Industrial Consortium mistakenly paid its employee a salary 330 times higher than his usual salary of around $560: the employee received more than $180,000, as Spanish outlet El Economista recounts.

Photo: Jonathan Saavedra / Unsplash

It ended with a complaint

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

The worker promised to pay back the difference, but he ultimately resigned without paying. This story ended with a lawsuit between the company and the employee.

Photo: Saul Bucio / Unsplash

A currency error

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

The same thing happened to a Hungarian worker. Instead of paying him 92,549 forints (about $256), his company transferred the amount in euros (more than $100,000).

Photo: Alexander Gray / Unsplash

He also did not want to return the money

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

When the company realized the mistake, it also demanded the money back. Although the former employee refused to pay, the company has recovered part of its money.

Photo: Austin Distel / Unsplash

Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

Digitalization has brought significant advances but also many dangers. Experts estimate that human error is the cause of most cyberattacks targeting Small and medium-sized enterprises.

Lack of training and protection

To err is human, Mistakes that cost dearly, A simple slip, responsible for serious damage, The Alitalia case, A failure that cost 7.4 million, 300 billion in capitaliaztion has disappeared, Like a virus, Samsung also made a mistake, 1,000 shares, The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund pulverized 86 million, An incorrect cell in Excel, NASA also failed, Destroyed a probe, Mistakes that benefit employees, A 330% higher salary for a worker in Chile, It ended with a complaint, A currency error, He also did not want to return the money, Human error, the main cause of cyber attacks, Lack of training and protection

The lack of employee training and protection against these threats can lead to million-dollar losses for these companies.

Photo: Tirza van Dijk / Unsplash

Post Related