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Fed-Up Hospitals Defy Windows Patching Rules

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the er dept.

bingbong writes "According to Network World: 'Amid growing worries that Windows-based medical systems will endanger patients if Microsoft-issued security patches are not applied, hospitals are rebelling against restrictions from device manufacturers that have delayed or prevented such updates. Device makers such as GE Medical Systems, Philips Medical Systems and Agfa say it typically takes months to test Microsoft patches because they could break the medical systems to which they're applied. In some instances, vendors won't authorize patch updates at all.' This is the typical patch vs. crash problem. Unfortunately, the stakes here could be human lives."

4 of 705 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Stop playing solitaire on my dialysis machine by Gumby · · Score: 1, Troll

    Please don't using "saving a buck" as if it is a curse. That is the foundation of our country's wealth. Almost all of the tech that is developed and sold is driven by that goal - "to save a buck". Note that making medical equipment (or any other) cost 10x as much will reduce the amount of equipment purchased by roughly 10x. There are certainly good and bad choices to make - and TCO is a critical but difficult component of these decisions. But don't curse the entrepreneur for "saving a buck!"

  2. Re:Stop playing solitaire on my dialysis machine by Locutus · · Score: 1, Troll

    But how can a hospital even use MS Windows? IIRC, the EULA says that Microsoft can access the system and it's data and that is against the public privacy prection laws.

    IMO, they could only be allowed to run W2k( pre SP2 ) and anything BEFORE that. Surely not MS Windows XP.

    Maybe it's time for a class action. IMHO.

    LoB

    --
    "Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
  3. Re:Stop playing solitaire on my dialysis machine by Pieroxy · · Score: 0, Troll

    Very honestly, most of these machines couldn't "kill omeone". I mean, if the radiation therapy machine crashes, nobody dies.

    There really are a few machines that would be highly critical, and I'm not sure those run UNIX or Windows.

    --
    Write boring code, not shiny code!
  4. Re:Stop playing solitaire on my dialysis machine by black+mariah · · Score: 0, Troll

    Could you just be a bit more of a dumbass fanboy? I don't think you're doing your fair share of OSS cock sucking. Mix in an M$ or two next time.

    Idiot.

    --
    'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.