Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[oldfogy]

Almost two million PCs globally, including machines inside UK and US government departments, have been taken over by malicious hackers.

Security experts Finjan traced the giant network of remotely-controlled PCs, called a botnet, back to a gang of cyber criminals in Ukraine.

Several PCs inside six UK government bodies were compromised by the botnet.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8010729.stm

[roseway]

I've got some sympathy with private individuals who get caught, but none at all for government departments, who ought to have competent IT administrators. Fools!

[kitz]

I'm sure I read somewhere and posted in another thread that there was an article recently about how government PCs had been infected with the conflicker virus.
Reading between the lines it seems like this may be what the article may in general be referring to or at least something similar type virus.

What doesnt seem to make sense in the article is this bit

Many of the infected machines will have been caught by routine information security policies at firms, as it was in the case of the BBC, but Finjan says many of the botnet PCs are still active.

So was there a botnet in place or not.. or did the BBC only remove it later. 
Because if the BBCs security was so tight.. then how the hell Finjin know it was there in the first place.. and it should have been removed immediately no?