[ISN] Computer virus shuts down Houston municipal courts

From: InfoSec News <alerts_at_private>
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 00:18:21 -0600 (CST)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6250411.html

By BRADLEY OLSON, MELISSA VARGAS and DALE LEZON 
Copyright 2009 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 7, 2009

Houston shut down part of its municipal court operations Friday, 
cancelling hearings and suspending arrests for minor offenses after a 
computer virus infected hundreds of its machines. City officials said 
they expected the problems to extend at least through Monday.

Court offices will remain open to allow people to pay tickets and fines, 
but the dockets will have to be reset, a move that will affect thousands 
of cases, city officials said.

It was unclear Friday how the virus got into the system, but officials 
promised a thorough investigation. They could not say when they hoped to 
have the virus removed from the city network.

The disruption cascaded through city departments, leading police to 
temporarily abandon making some arrests for minor offenses. Officials 
also briefly disconnected the Houston Emergency Center. Although some 
emergency communications, such as dispatching, are routed through the 
center, police experienced no major disruptions, officials said.

[...]


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Received on Sun Feb 08 2009 - 22:18:21 PST

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