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Virus Knocks Out U.S. Visa Approval System
GillBates0 writes "According to this story and many others, the State Department's electronic system for checking every visa applicant for terrorist or criminal history failed worldwide late Tuesday because of a computer virus, leaving the U.S. government unable to issue visas. The virus crippled the department's Consular Lookout and Support System, known as CLASS, which contains, among others, names of at least 78,000 suspected terrorists. It was unclear which computer virus might have affected the system. But a separate message sent to embassies and consular offices late Tuesday warned that the Welchia virus had been detected in one facility. Welchia is an aggressive infection unleashed last month that exploits a software flaw in recent versions of Microsoft Windows."
So now even terrorists using a fake name won't be able to get into the US!
READY.
#
Seems like there's a Mastercard joke in here somewhere.
And here I was thinking about all the new "Already approved VISA platinum card!" in my inbox...
From the parent comment: "... Microsoft keeps making, er, crappy software
I just want to say that I appreciate the tactfulness, sensitivity, restraint, and diplomacy of that remark.
4.) vi is better than e-macs
5.) In Soviet Russia, you attack Virus!
6.) People should patch their boxes bec.#J^@ATDT[NO CARRIER]
7.) Don't use FreeBSD because it's dead/dying.
8.) Apple is awesome. But I can't afford one.
9.) Imagine a Beowolf cluster of those!
10.) Patents, RIAA, Spooks, Windoze, Verisign, Politician, Spalling Checkirs; all bad.
11.) Ogg, Apple, *nix, RMS, EFF; all good.
12.) ???
13.) Profit!
PS. Mod's, go away. I'm just having fun. Don't put it up or down you fu%#d2DHATDT[NO CARRIER]
How? They just do a grep for names without vowels.
How on earth does the government come up with a list of _78,000_ suspected terrorists? This is the type of indiscriminant prejudice that a seige mentality creates.
Ohp - now it's 78,001.