Doctor: “Nurse, please begin the scan.”

Nurse: “I’m sorry doctor, but I keep getting pop-ups with ads for porn sites.  I’ve already rebooted 73 times today.  I guess we’ll never know why the patient starts singing ‘Backstreet’s Back’ whenever the phone rings...”

Doctor: “Nonsense!  Never give up, never surrender!  Let’s try plan B.  I’ll round up some old photographic film, you grab a microwave from the kitchen, jam the door open and set it to ‘Shake ‘N Bake’!”

Is this how it played out in the Radiology department at one of the dozens of hospitals affected by the Conficker worm that infected their MRI Machines?  Perhaps.  But more important than the specific details of the workarounds put in place, is the simple fact that there is a serious threat to patient privacy and hospital security here.

So I’m sure you’re all aware that viruses can infect computers.  But did you know that there are many medical devices which are built AROUND standard Windows computers?  Well, MRI scanners happen to be one of them and just like your XP machine at home, these are vulnerable to infection if not properly protected.  So what are the consequences of having an MRI infected with Conficker?  Well, the virus is able to send data from the infected computer to a “command and control” server that is operated by the criminal network that created it.  That means that any files on that computer, including Protected Health Information, can be compromised.

Now most of you do not have MRI machines in your offices but there may be other equipment that is based on Windows.  Make sure to have us take a look and ensure that best practices are being employed to keep you protected!  If you want to read more about the MRI issues, you can do so here:

http://chattahbox.com/technology/2009/05/11/conficker-worm-infects-hospital-mri-machines/

And here:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/tech/news/6402475.html