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GMP computers crippled by virus

Date published: 02/02/2010

GREATER Manchester Police’s computer system has been crippled by a costly virus.

Officers have been cut off from a national criminal database and other criminal justice systems for more than four days to prevent it spreading. It means officers have been asking neighbouring forces to carry out national checks on names and vehicles.

IT experts disconnected GMP from the Police National Computer after finding the conficker virus on Friday, which quickly knocked down internet connections and e-mail accounts, and have been working round the clock to fix the problem.

They were expecting to give the all clear this morning, allowing them to reconnect.

The conficker virus, a malicious worm, is believed to have infected up to 15 million computers around the world.

It’s believed the virus may have been introduced by a member of staff plugging a personal memory stick into a computer.

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And to think we rely on these idiots to protect us, perhap they will loose/sell a few laptops and memory sticks next.

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Will this mean any loss of emails between officers,and is so how many caes could be affected.

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Any mention of the companies supplying and running the software and how much it has cost the taxpayer?

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My main concern is that GPM are crippled by incompetance, never mind a computer virus......
What the betting that this virus came from people sending stupid virals to each other....

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It’s believed the virus may have been introduced by a member of staff plugging a personal memory stick into a computer.
Why would they do this? Are they downloading info from the NCD & 'other criminal justice systems'? Are they using GMP computers for personal use? Are they playing on-line games? Are they twittering, tweeting, e-mailing & blogging all day? That would explain their long absences from the 'cutting edge,' the streets. We need to know!

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