The computer virus known as Conficker has reportedly infected hundreds of machines and medical equipment in an undisclosed number of U.S. hospitals.
The worm, which remained dormant since late last year, began attacking millions of infected computers in early April. The virus essentially turns computers into servers of E-mail spam and installs spyware. The “slave” computers are all controlled by a remote server known as a botnet.
While the number of infected hospital equipment is not widespread, it underlines the sensitivity of having critical hospital devices connected to computer networks. The infected equipment, including heart monitors and MRI machines, was running older versions of Windows. The device’s computer software was too old to be fixed by Microsoft’s October patch.
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