Conficker cripples Greater Manchester Police

Officers in Manchester have reportedly been unable to run checks on criminals and vehicles

Greater Manchester Police has been cut off from the Police National Computer (PNC) system for days after its machines were infected with the Conficker virus, according to reports.

The Manchester Evening News reported today that the worm hit the systems on Friday and quickly spread throughout the force. The decision to cut off access to the PNC means that officers have been unable to run checks on criminals and suspect vehicles.

"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 PNC and other Criminal Justice systems to prevent further infection," Assistant Chief Constable Dave Thompson told the paper.

"A team of experts is now working on removing the virus, and will not reconnect until we are sure there is no further threat."

It has not yet been confirmed how the computers became infected, but Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley argued in a blog post today that an infected USB stick is the most likely method.

"Malware like the Conficker worm can spread via infected memory sticks, taking advantage of the AutoRun facility to execute on computers, and has been a common route for virus distribution in recent years," he said.

"Although companies can't strip search employees in order to prevent USB memory sticks being brought into their organisations, they can take steps to help fight the problem of unauthorised devices being attached to their network. "

Jason Holloway, sales manager at removable storage firm SanDisk, argued that the incident underlines the dangers to organisations of conventional USB devices.

"Virus scanning has to extend beyond the PC to all types of removable storage. Better still, employees should only be able to use authorised Flash drives that include onboard anti-virus scanning," he said.

"This ensures that users can't turn off, disable or work around the protection, and would stop these infections from spreading."

Tony Speakman, manager for northern Europe at database software firm FileMaker, stressed the importance of a back-up strategy to mitigate against this type of incident.

"Whether it's the Conficker virus that has already affected millions of computers worldwide, or just a glitch in your network, the threats to business come in many shapes and sizes and, unfortunately, it's only a matter of time before yours is affected," he said.

"Disruption to data access can be costly in terms of time and money, so while cure is usually possible, prevention is always smarter."