July 4th fireworks fiasco in San Diego? Computer virus gets the blame

As local media reported, hundreds of thousands of people gathered at San Diego Bay on July 4th to see what should have been one of America’s biggest Independence Day firework spectacles.

But a computer malfunction meant that the planned 17 minute fireworks display was condensed into a 15 second firestorm.

Confused spectators waited for what they believed was going to be the rest of the show, but were told that the event was cancelled and sent home disappointed.

There are numerous videos of the “Big Bay Boom” event on YouTube, but this is my favourite because of one audience member’s reaction at the end of the clip…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.