Summary: Operations at a British hospital suspended yet again due to windows viruses; similar story at insurance giant

What is it about UK-based hospitals that have them make so many headlines about becoming botnets?

For a sample of some prior incidents, here are three points from which to start [1, 2, 3]. The Register alone must have reported almost half a dozen such incidents in the past 6 months. The NHS, like other national services in the UK, is far too close to Microsoft.

The latest victim of Windows (and Windows viruses) is Cambridge hospital.

An unnamed computer virus infection forced a UK hospital to temporarily shut down part of its network earlier this week.

An unspecified number of computers at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge were hit by the malware. A spokesman explained that the hospital continued to operate normally while IT staff grappled with the infection. He stressed that patients were not affected by the incident, which was resolved in a matter of hours.

In other concurrent news, an insurance giant too has just been hit by Windows malware.

The US arm of insurance giant Aviva has blamed a computer virus infection for the potential disclosure of sensitive personal information.

Aviva (Norwich Union, before a recent rebranding) admitted the breach in a letter to the Attorney General of New Hampshire, one of several states that maintain strict information security breach disclosure laws.

Data potentially leaked included names, addresses and social security numbers. Approximately 550 records were involved.

Will they ever learn? Either the NHS or Microsoft? The National Technology Officer of Microsoft UK has just jumped ship. Next time you visit the hospital, bring along a Live CD. ⬆