01.21.09
Death by Microsoft Windows
“Many of the incidents that have been reported by CfH include failure of the systems used by surgeons to see X-ray pictures on a computer screen in wards and operating theatres. On some occasions the system is believed to have crashed during an operation, forcing surgeons to suspend the procedure while a hard copy of the X-ray is found.”
“It is no exaggeration to say that the national security is also implicated by the efforts of hackers to break into computing networks.”
–Jim Allchin, Microsoft
Hospitals across the world continue to become botnets, but they keep very quiet about this embarrassment which might incite great panic and bring backlash. In the UK alone, last month we saw several hospitals getting infected by computer viruses and being shut down for long periods of time as a result. This is not a lesson in productivity or a question of profitability; this is life and death.
And guess what?
It’s still happening at the moment, so it’s yet another NHS failure.
Conficker seizes city’s hospital network
Staff at hospitals across Sheffield are battling a major computer worm outbreak after managers turned off Windows security updates for all 8,000 PCs on the vital network, The Register has learned.
This is part of a large-scale, on-going problem. Will Vista 7 bring change? Of course not. It’s already open to hijacking and it’s not immune to Conficker, either.
Conficker Autoplay ruse gets teeth into Windows 7
Social engineering autoplay tricks work on early versions of Windows 7 as well as Vista, according to tests by security researchers.
Who will assume responsibility? And when will it be required that non-Windows computers are always procured for mission-critical environments? Should patients start bringing in their Live CDs/DVDs? █
“Two security researchers have developed a new technique that essentially bypasses all of the memory protection safeguards in the Windows Vista operating system…”
–Dennis Fisher, August 7th, 2008
“Usually Microsoft doesn’t develop products, we buy products. [OneCare i]s not a bad product, but bits and pieces are missing.”
–Arno Edelmann, Microsoft’s European business security product manager
Needs Sunlight said,
January 21, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Error in summary “computer virus” should read “windows virus”
Deploying M$ in a mission-critical environment is not an accident. Nor are the consequences unknown.
Who goes to jail, the gas chamber? The executives signing off (or closing their eyes) on the MS agreement, or the fifth columnists infiltrating the IT department who insist on rolling it out?
Note that the above can apply even to DeIcaza’s copies of defective models.
Michael said,
January 21, 2009 at 9:57 pm
They have windows boxes … in operating theatres … connected to the internet … receiving automatic updates !(?)
Jesus.
Roy Schestowitz said,
January 21, 2009 at 10:22 pm
No, Jesus went to a different hospital — one where computers don’t spontaneously ‘crash’ during an operation.