[ISN] Windows Worm Didn't Ground French Planes, Official Claims

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/government/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=213401886

By Thomas Claburn
InformationWeek
February 9, 2009

French navy officials suspect than an infected USB drive is to blame for 
a Conflicker/Downandup worm infection last month that interfered with 
the operation of naval logistics systems running Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) 
Windows.

But a French defense ministry spokesperson has denied reports that the 
worm grounded French navy jets, as claimed in The Telegraph and several 
French publications.

Citing a French intelligence publication, Intelligence Online, The 
Telegraph in the U.K. reported on Saturday that the Rafale, a plane used 
in the French navy, had been grounded following a Conflicker worm 
infection that had spread last month throughout the French non-secured 
internal naval network called Intramar. The worm supposedly interfered 
with French navy's ability to transfer flight data to its planes.

In October, Microsoft issued an out-of-band Security Bulletin, MS08-067, 
for a vulnerability affecting its Server service. It warned that the 
vulnerability was "potentially wormable." As Microsoft feared, the 
vulnerability was wormable and the worm that was released, known as 
Conflicker or Downandup, and its variants, affected at least 9 million 
PCs last month.

According to French newspaper Ouest France, the worm's impact on 
Intramar forced the French navy to "return to conventional means of 
communication such as telephone, fax or regular mail" while the 
infection was mitigated.

[...]


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