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Computer Virus Attack Forces Hospitals To Cancel Operations, Shut Down Systems (zdnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the virus-outbreak dept.

A hospital system in the United Kingdom has canceled all planned operations and diverted major trauma cases to neighboring facilities citing a computer virus outbreak. From a report on ZDNet: The Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust says a "major incident" has been caused by a "computer virus" which infected its electronic systems on Sunday. As a result of the attack, the hospital has taken the decision to shut down the majority of its computer networks in order to combat the virus. "A virus infected our electronic systems [on Sunday] and we have taken the decision, following expert advice, to shut down the majority of our systems so we can isolate and destroy it," said Dr Karen Dunderdale, the trust's deputy chief executive. The use of a shared IT system also means the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust has been taken offline as staff attempt to combat the attack. As a result of the attack, all outpatient appointments and diagnostic procedures that were set to take place at the infected hospitals on Monday and Tuesday have been canceled, while medical emergencies involving major trauma and women in high-risk labor are being diverted to neighboring hospitals.

4 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe they shouldn't be using the largest... by mark-t · · Score: 5, Informative

    ... virus attack vector in the first place. While I realize that no OS is immune to viruses, it seems that switching to an OS that isn't as widely targeted should at least substantially reduce the likelihood they would be susceptible... and as most of the alternatives are a variant on Unix, usually have enough restrictions on what users are allowed to do that no one end-user with normal privileges can render the system unusable for anyone else.

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    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    1. Re:Maybe they shouldn't be using the largest... by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Informative

      Don't know what company you worked for, or who you were forced with. But I've done several big installations of new healthcare hardware and software(hospitals and dr's offices) . They all required Windows because the company that made the software, which was required to communicate with provincial offices for billing required a "common database" for communication. That's the way it was in 1999 in my first job doing it, and that's the way it was on the last healthcare job I did ~3 years ago. So depending on where you are, it can indeed be "limited choice" and you can enjoy all the fuckedupness that goes along with it.

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      Om, nomnomnom...
  2. IT Admin wanted... by dfsmith · · Score: 4, Informative

    They're currently posting an ad for an IT Admin (asset mgmt) at UKP 17k (~$20k/yr). Great advertising... any takers? http://jobs.nlg.nhs.uk/job/UK/...

  3. Re:Betcha they still run Windows XP by hoofie · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is the UK. No patients are billed excepting for the occasional private room one and ambulance chasers for medical cases are very rare in the UK purely because even if they do win [Medical Negligence is not easy to prove in the UK and cases are dealt with by a judge only] the payout does not result in a huge legal payday. Speculative lawsuits in the UK are a non-starter.