LONDON, Jan 20 (KUNA) — A computer virus is continuing to affect the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) systems, but it insisted Tuesday no classified or personal data is under threat.
Up to 70 sites, including several Royal Navy ships and Royal Air Force bases have been affected by the bug, which has shut down computers and knocked out e-mails.
The virus first hit systems a fortnight ago but the MoD said operations have not been affected.
It is still trying to discover how the virus breached its security software.
One Royal Air Force source said personnel were struggling to communicate with other MoD sites by e-mail, with some having to use pen and paper or telephones instead.
It is not clear where the virus came from, although computer experts said it might have originated in the former Eastern bloc.
The main opposition Conservative MP Mark Pritchard said he had been told by one defence official that e-mail traffic from some Royal Air Force stations had been re-directed to a Russian internet server as a result of the virus.
The MP, who is also the secretary of the Conservative Defence Committee, is calling for a written parliamentary statement on what he called a serious breach of national security.
However, the MoD said it has no evidence the virus came from Russia.
A spokeswoman for the Department said it had not been specifically targeted and immediate action had been taken to clean the infected systems and protect them from re-infection.(