Conficker virus outbreak at Greater Manchester Police

Greater Manchester Police has been reportedly cut-off from the UK’s Police National Computer system, after an outbreak of the notorious Conficker worm.

As a result, the police force has been unable to carry out checks on criminals and suspect vehicles since the virus entered its computer network on Friday.

Officers have been warned against using unauthorised USB flash drives – a common method for the Conficker worm to enter an organisation.

According to Dave Thompson, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, the public has not received any difference in the level of service they have received as a result of the virus infection.

“The virus is not destructive and no data has been lost but due to the speed it has spread we have temporarily cut off our access to the Police National Computer and other Criminal Justice systems to prevent further…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.