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Conficker spreads to medical devices
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Reports from secruity experts at this week's RSA security conference are that the Conficker virus infected several hundred machines and critical medical equipment, which control things like heart monitors and MRI machines, at an undisclosed number of U.S. hospitals recently.
The conference discussion indicated that in at least one instance the infected computers were on a local area network that was not supposed to have access to the Internet. However, highlighting how intereconnected the world is, the network was connected to a second network that has direct Internet access. It is believed that is how the infection spread at that facility.
The Conficker virus spreads via networked computers as well as through removable storage devices and a hole in Windows. Microsoft released a patch for th hole in October of 2008 but many computers do not yet have the patches that prevent Conficker from infecting the device. In the U.K. The Register reported PCs at hospitals in Sheffield were found to be infected with Conficker in January of this year.
You might think it is hard enough to find a good doctor or a good hospital - but now we have to find good doctors and hospitals who are smart enough to hire good IT staff who make sure that all the equipment is secure and safe. A computer virus in a hospital could be almost as deadly as the organic viruses they are named after.
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