Industry News Home More stories like this... RSS Feed

Huston court system paralysed by computer virus

Nearly 500 computers belonging to the City of Huston's court services are likely to be out of action until the end of the week after being hit by a virus, it has been confirmed.

According to reports from the Texan city, the internet security breach was first noticed just before staff were due to leave for the weekend.

Experts have identified the problem as a case of the virus commonly known as Virut, which works by targeting the part of the Microsoft operating system handling log-in processes.

And while the Huston authorities have in place anti-virus software, according to Fox News, this was bypassed by the new strain of the computer virus, though only a small proportion of the city's 16,000 computers are believed to have been compromised.

As a result of the security breach, dozens of small-scale court cases have had to be rearranged as judges and other staff have been unable to access crucial data on proceedings.

News of the online security problems comes soon after US government contractor SRA advised public sector employees to be more aware of the threat of ID theft in the workplace.

PC Tools anti virus software offers security and protection for your friends and family against latest viruses, worms and Trojans. Visit www.pctools.com to upgrade your protection