Computers of Royal Melbourne Hospital Damaged With Virus Attack

All computers with Windows XP support of The Royal Melbourne Hospital became infected by malware last week. The network administrator of the hospital discovered that computers were running on the unsupported software.

The malware first struck pathology department of the hospital, which compelled the staff to perform many operations manually that were conducted automatically previously by Windows XP machines, including tissue processing and blood. The authorities of the hospital confirmed that the staff had been trying their best to minimize delays to patients, which happened due to the problem caused by the malware.

As per the email: "IT is currently implementing a network-wide solution to this virus. This will take some time so staff must not attempt to fix the problem themselves". The email advised staff members not to log in to any sites protected by password, like Facebook accounts or Gmail. Staff, whose computers are shut down, are being warned not to open their machines. The email said that the food service of the hospital was working with nurses to ensure that right patients continue to get right meals.

Spokesperson of Royal Melbourne Hospital said: "Security of patient has consistently been our top priority, which has been kept up. We are attempting to resolve this problem at the earliest, and as soon as the virus is removed, we will start investigating how this malware infected Melbourne Health". The Spokesperson did not make any comment on being asked if the malware would threaten the security and privacy of patient's records.

On the other hand, the hospital claims that everything is almost under control at present, and IT teams are working round the clock to remove the virus. Softpedia posted on 19th January, 2016, stating that while the hospital has experienced delays, the administration team claimed that only limited patients were actually obstructed by the computer outage because staff performed majority of processing works manually.

The Spokeswoman declined to comment on being asked, should patients and ambulances avoid the emergency department of the hospital.

» SPAMfighter News - 1/27/2016