Fergie's Tech Blog

UK: MoD Hit By Computer Virus

Jeremy Kirk writes on TechWorld:

The Ministry of Defence has been hit by a computer virus that has rapidly spread through its computer networks since 6 January.

The virus infected computers throughout the military, including those used by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, and is one of the most severe attacks the organisation has ever faced, according to a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman.

"Obviously with a computer system of our size we are fighting off viruses daily, but not of this scale," the spokeswoman said. "I don't think we've ever had an instance like this before."

The virus has affected email systems and Internet access but has not jeopardised war-fighting systems, she said. Due to pre-existing security systems, no classified or personal data was compromised, the Ministry said.

posted by Fergie @ 1/16/2009 05:00:00 PM