Hack attack on a hospital system highlights the risk of still running Windows XP

[silicon_toad2000]

http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/592529/hack-attack-hospital-it-system-highlights-risk-still-running-windows-xp/

A report this week in The Age said a “computer virus” has affected Windows XP systems across the hospital, interfering with the delivery of meals and pathology results. Staff have resorted to “manual workarounds”, telephones, and fax machines to ensure continued delivery of these services.

A statement from the Royal Melbourne Hospital said IT staff at Melbourne Health, the network that runs the hospital, were doing all they could to “restore the remaining Windows XP computers” as soon as possible.

[GhostShip]

One has to ask why a network having access to such privacy challenging resources was connected to the internet in the first place, but it seems some folks are unable to do their jobs properly and let everyone down.

The age of public connectivity should not extend to mission critical computing resources.

[White Stripes]

a hospital still running XP? ...  "blue screen of death" has taken on a chilling new meaning... ...funny those fax machines still worked.. thought those were 'obsolete' ...

[wonderer]

fax still working is not surprising, its just two machines talking to each other, no matter the medium used, copper wire , fiber, radio signal or whatever you may think off. Both machines just need an interface to the same media and off you go.
telex is another story as the telex service has been stopped long time ago

[White Stripes]

i was just being sarcastic about a technology that predates windows picking up where windows cant...

[silicon_toad2000]

Computer systems at Royal Melbourne Hospital are still infected with
Qbot, malware that has the ability to steal account access credentials.
While most departments' systems are once again functional, Qbot "mutated
six times" in one day, according to a Melbourne Health executive. The
hospital is using computers running on Windows XP.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/qbot-virus-still-attacking-royal-melbourne-hospital/

[GhostShip]

It seems to me that the issue isnt one of XP but of poor anti virus deployment, but I suspect that "Idiot IT network manager fails to deploy decent AntiVirus system" sounds a bit too honest so its XP's fault..

[White Stripes]

depending on the amount of ram modern antivirus may not be possible... avast alone eats around 1gig of ram... ms security essentials around 600mb...

[WhiteLightningX]

I get cracked up sometimes, because, there are certain machines you do no connect to the internet for any reason. I can understand a few of them, like transcription and doctors that need access. But even those should be hooked up in a way that such incidents cannot happen. It's like these occurrences where computers using "insert any OS here" that run a nuclear facility's control rods were hooked to the internet without any apparent regard that maybe "password1" isn't good enough.. even the thought of them being attached to the internet at all is questionable.. I mean, isn't there a few people being paid around the clock to be on site to deal with the situation just in case anything arises? What are they being paid for? To not do their job?