ZDNet Government

David Gewirtz
Home / News & Blogs / ZDNet Government

How far does Conficker infection of British government go?

By | March 30, 2009, 8:03am PDT

I guess the question is whether we really expect that government IT is a highly sophisticated operation or that it’s run with the same efficiency as the gasbags whom it serves.

Friday, the Guardian reported that the House of Commons has been infected with Conficker, which is an “embarrassment,” the paper says, since Microsoft announced a fix in October. The House relies on Symantec-owned MessageLabs.

Employees are now banned from bringing in flash drives.

Today, it seems the infection is more widespread.

At the very least, it has penetrated the entire Parliament IT system. Will the ministries be the next to turn up infected? The National Health Service hospital systems and Royal Navy Fleet have also been infected, according to ITWire.

An email sent to “all users connecting directly to the Parliamentary Network” seems to indicate a massive level of unpreparedness. And as InfoPackets points out:

This is the exact reason why having the Government harvesting everyone’s electronic data and outsourcing it will inevitably end up being a major disaster. All of this could have been prevented had the proper precautions been taken.

Here’s the email (via via News.com).

To: All users connecting directly to the Parliamentary Network

The Parliamentary Network has been affected by a virus known as conficker. This virus affects users by slowing down the Network and by locking out some accounts. We are continuining [sic] to work with our third party partners to manage its removal and we need to act swiftly to clean computers that are infected.

We are scanning the Network and if we identify any equipment which we believe is infected with the virus then we will contact you to ensure that the device is either removed from the Network or cleaned and loaded with the correct software to prevent this infection reoccurring.

You can help us to contain this problem and prevent new infection by adhering to the following advice:

  • We are unable to clean PCs and portable computers which are either not switched on or which are not authorised devices. We therefore ask that if you are running a PC or portable computer not authorised to be on the Network that you take it off immediately.
  • An additional characteristic of this virus is that for some types of files it can skip direct to the Network from a USB memory stick or other portable storage device (e.g. mp3 players) without hitting the virus checker software. We ask that for the time being you do not use memory sticks or any other portable storage devices on the Parliamentary Network.
  • If you do identify a problem with the equipment you are running, please contact the PICT Service Desk on 020 7219 2001 when it reopens on Wednesday 25 March from 8am.
  • If you are connecting using one of our remote access services, from a Constituency Office for example, a separate communication will be sent to you.

    Director of Parliamentary ICT.

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

More from “ZDNet Government”

Topics

Infection, Network, Government, Virus, House, Cyberthreats, Security, Viruses And Worms, Richard Koman

Disclosure

Richard Koman

http://government.zdnet.com/?page_id=3731

Biography

Richard Koman

Richard Koman is an attorney admitted to practice in California. As a technology writer since the mid-1980s, Richard Koman has documented the role of computing in the transformation of the graphic arts, the growth of the Web and the birth of the peer-to-peer phenomenon. He worked as a book and web editor for O'Reilly Media throughout the 1990s, editing several influential websites and numerous best-sellers. As a lawyer, as well as a tech writer, he brings a unique perspective to the blog's intersection of law, government and technology.

Related Discussions on TechRepublic

Did you know you can take part in these discussions with your ZDNet membership?
Ask a Question Start a Discussion
7
Comments
Add Your Opinion

Join the conversation!

Just In

Happens in private industry all the time
John L. Ries Updated - 31st Mar 2009
The boss doesn't understand computers, doesn't want to, won't listen to the people who do know, and looks for the cheapest possible solution. When something goes wrong, he either wises up, or he blames his techies. Unfortunately, the latter is, by far, the more frequent occurrence.

You stated that these were Parliamentary systems that were being infected. Therefore blame probably lies with the leadership in the two houses trying to run the system on the cheap (computer professionals, in almost all cases, are trying to do the best job they can with the resources available). The leaders didn't care because the members didn't care. The members didn't care, because elections are neither won nor lost because of how well Parliament runs their computer systems (not even on the basis of how well the government runs theirs).

I recently read portions of the report of the Challenger commission (particularly Richard Feynman's appendix), and guess what the biggest problem was: Management ignored their own engineers and tried to do things on the cheap (NASA management failed to listen to their engineers, and Morton Thiakol's executives failed to listen to theirs). I was amused (and somewhat disturbed) to discover that the computer software on the shuttle was being hand-loaded by the astronauts from tape (understandable in 1969, but not in 1987 on a multi-billion dollar spacecraft), and that was one of the things that was going right. The moral is that what you don't know can kill people.

There are reasons why the buck in well run organizations stops at the top. In addition, how politicians address the issues that most people don't care about says a lot more about their fitness for office than does how well they listen to their constituents.
View in thread
0 Votes
+ -
the Government harvesting everyone?s electronic data
T-Rexx 30th Mar 2009
Always wondered who'd be watching the watchers,
the criminals will.
0 Votes
+ -
Be afraid. Be very afraid!
InAction Man 30th Mar 2009
No one is safe, anywhere!

You never know who will end up owning important data about you, gaining power over you and other unsuspecting potential victims.
0 Votes
+ -
Depends on how much those in charge know and care
John L. Ries 30th Mar 2009
My suspicion would be that peers and MPs didn't know or care very much, and the professional opinions of sysadmins were routinely ignored. I suspect that in the future, though, Her Majesty's techies will get much more time and resources allocated to do the job right.

0 Votes
+ -
Oh come on
rkoman@... 30th Mar 2009
It's not like proper security had to be
approved by a bill of the Lords or something;
they were tasked with providing appropriate
security. Why doesn't the blame fall on the
head of IT???
0 Votes
+ -
Happens in private industry all the time
John L. Ries Updated - 31st Mar 2009
The boss doesn't understand computers, doesn't want to, won't listen to the people who do know, and looks for the cheapest possible solution. When something goes wrong, he either wises up, or he blames his techies. Unfortunately, the latter is, by far, the more frequent occurrence.

You stated that these were Parliamentary systems that were being infected. Therefore blame probably lies with the leadership in the two houses trying to run the system on the cheap (computer professionals, in almost all cases, are trying to do the best job they can with the resources available). The leaders didn't care because the members didn't care. The members didn't care, because elections are neither won nor lost because of how well Parliament runs their computer systems (not even on the basis of how well the government runs theirs).

I recently read portions of the report of the Challenger commission (particularly Richard Feynman's appendix), and guess what the biggest problem was: Management ignored their own engineers and tried to do things on the cheap (NASA management failed to listen to their engineers, and Morton Thiakol's executives failed to listen to theirs). I was amused (and somewhat disturbed) to discover that the computer software on the shuttle was being hand-loaded by the astronauts from tape (understandable in 1969, but not in 1987 on a multi-billion dollar spacecraft), and that was one of the things that was going right. The moral is that what you don't know can kill people.

There are reasons why the buck in well run organizations stops at the top. In addition, how politicians address the issues that most people don't care about says a lot more about their fitness for office than does how well they listen to their constituents.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: How far does Conficker infection of British government go?
deadendman1969@... 30th Mar 2009
Do you truly believe some quasi hacker from Russia or China dreamed this up! Or some dumb Idiot bought these hackers tools to confront some little personal agenda? This is a group or groups working on different parts of these software platforms which fit together!! No small group,company or nationalize global institution has this clout alone! What is left? A hand full of governments with the resources and monetary clout to originate and consolidate these actions! On a level which has never been know to before to Mankind! Which now has the ability overcome DMZ's, Firewalls, Routers and Servers, 128, 256, 512 encryption of last resort which now can load both the Internet and infect so called secured networks from both ends! This has come down to a complete overshadowing of the Internet and all those involved, hence to control, guide, and Censor every thing contrive to be in opposition to these so called new governing bodies! We are way past the point of no return! Believe what you want? The Internet is no longer free or the proverbial Cyber or Virtual Wild West! May we all have Mercy on ourselves, our children, and others!!
0 Votes
+ -
That bad?
InAction Man Updated - 30th Mar 2009
Man, you're starting to scare me. I'll have to think twice before making any jokes related to conficker. Apparently this is no laughing matter.

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

Blog Roll

Blog Archive

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix