It arrived two weeks ago, a mystery virus that’s hit RAF bases and Royal Navy ships, knocking out e-mails and shutting down some computers throughout the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – although it insists that operations remain unaffected.
The Ministry is still struggling to understand how the virus managed to breach its security, and there’s speculation as to where it originated, although some experts believe it was born in what was once the Eastern Bloc.
The BBC understands that in some instances, facilities are having to use snail mail or phone instead of e-mail. Conservative Member of Parliament Mark Pritchard is calling for a written Parliamentary statement on the matter.
The MoD says it has taken steps to clean systems and prevent them being infected again. There has been speculation that the infection is the widespread Conficker worm.