Parliament has suffered a virus attack, which has highlighted
the weakness of its IT security.
The
Conficker
computer virus, which has been public knowledge since last October,
has been sent to computers of MPs and members of the House of
Lords.
It is said to be one of the largest botnets ever created and has
recently been modified to cause even more damage, according to
Semantec.
On 1 April, Channel 4 news
reported that the creator of the virus will take control of the
infected computers. The virus, a type of worm, can be used to
perform any number of functions.
Most large companies have anti-virus systems that update daily,
and that have been configured to protect their networks and
computers against this particular virus.
The virus first disables a number of Windows services such as
automatic updates, security centre, Windows Defender and Windows
error reporting. Microsoft is
offering a reward of $250,000 for finding the creators of the
virus.
It receives further instructions when it connects to a server.
These may include collecting personal information or downloading
further malware onto a computer. April 1, when the creator is
reported to be taking control of the computers, is the day before
the G20 summit and it is possible the attack is linked to this.
An e-mail has reportedly been sent round to MPs asking them to
remove any unauthorised computers from the network.