Virus Shuts Down Australian Ambulance Dispatch Service 222
angry tapir writes "Computers which co-ordinate ambulances in NSW, Australia, are back online in three of the state's regions after a major virus forced staff to shut them down for more than 24 hours. The virus crept into the Ambulance Service of NSW's dispatch system, prompting staff to co-ordinate paramedics by telephone and handwritten notes. The cause and source of the virus are not yet known."
I know what caused it (Score:3, Insightful)
"The cause and source of the virus are not yet known."
I'm gonna take a guess at the cause: somebody decided to use a Microsoft product to control a critical system on which people's lives depend.
If a bank used an armored car made of cardboard to transport money, would you blame the inevitable robbers, or the bank?
Re:I know what caused it (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm gonna take a guess at the cause:
letting mission-critical systems be used by employees to surf facebook and download cute fonts and wallpaper.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Most likely: Yes.
A friend of mine works non-emergency dispatch--not quite the same thing as an emergency service, of course--and I get the impression that their network admin has a mild case of brain damage. Apparently they're prohibited from using non-MSIE browsers. Period. End of story. If it's not MSIE, it doesn't belong on the machine. I don't know if their int
Re:I know what caused it (Score:4, Funny)
When I briefly used windows 2003 I was surprised at how easy it was to lock down IE.
I was further surprised by the number of things that did not work when IE was locked down and security exceptions had to be added. (Quickbooks being the one that I remember, because it took a fair amount of searching to find out what the exact rule that was needed in order for it to work, most people seemed to just unlock IE, if the forum posts I was reading are any indication.
There seems to be a common attitude about system administration that if you run everything as Administrator, chmod -R 777 ./, disable SELinux, unlock IE, or run all your server process as the same user (here's looking at you Zimbra) you have fixed the problem, instead of realizing that you have done the equivalent of jumping out the 20th floor window because the ink jet printer is on fire. You're safe for the moment, but the inevitable consequence of your action is going to suck a lot more.
Re:I know what caused it (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I know what caused it (Score:4, Interesting)
More importantly with Linux you can create far more secure appliances. Where unnecessary services are completely removed and only what is required to run the appliance based server and workstations is installed and available on the installation software.
The dispatch machines need only handle bookings, dispatch, arrival, return etc. (database) and then pass that data to accounting, nothing else. With Linux it is fairly easy for a skilled person to create a custom appliance distribution, all without infringing copyright.
That is the biggest problem with windows the impossibility of creating completely custom installs with everything you didn't need, not just maybe, most likely, disabled but actually completely absent, on the machine and on installation software, all because go to jail copyright infringement.
Re: (Score:2)
Of course, the time you spend learning the comically baroque iptables can account for a lot of clicking in Windows...
Re: (Score:2)
Of course, the time you spend learning the comically baroque iptables can account for a lot of clicking in Windows...
Then repeat that for another ten systems.
Or just copy the same file to all of them.
Re: (Score:2)
Iptables is no more complex than any other widely used firewall system, cisco asa/pix etc...
The fact the configuration is all in a single text file is a huge positive (cisco do the same, as do most other commercial firewalls).
And of course, if you really can't handle editing the textual ruleset by hand, there are plenty of graphical frontends available for iptables, and you still get a textfile at the end of it which you can copy to other systems and back up easily.
Also the windows firewall is extremely cru
Re: (Score:2)
Not only is windows extremely complex, but many of the security options don't really work, or are incorrectly used...
Things like the group policies for restricting access to the command prompt - thats a client side check in cmd.exe itself, modify the binary and it will run. People think its actually enforced at the OS level but its not.
The trouble is, all that complexity makes people think it's better than it really is... Complexity is a bad thing and there is much to be gained from keeping things simple, t
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
it's probably worse - considering this place would be running 24/7, one could easily believe that the computers were seldom rebooted, and patch tuesdays would sit in the queue for weeks until the machine finally crashed and had to be rebootled.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry, I don't agree with that. MSIE may be insecure, but as long as it's updated through WSUS it's definitely more secure than the firefox some random user installed and forgot to update for about 2 years. So unless centrally managed, I agree that other browsers should not be installed. (This goes for any part of software, not only browsers.)
Re: (Score:2)
While true about the lack of central updating, this is primarily a problem of windows not offering a centralised update feature that other applications can easily hook into... I have Firefox and Chrome on my linux system and both browsers get updated centrally along with everything else on the system.
On windows you will sooner or later have to deploy some kind of third party update system, because a windows system without third party software is generally not that useful... At the very least most systems wi
Re: (Score:2)
I'm gonna take a guess at the cause:
letting mission-critical systems be used by employees to surf facebook and download cute fonts and wallpaper.
Oh, I'm sorry, but that was a good guess. We were looking for Stuxnet - it not only affects centrifuges but other spinning devices such as sirens and wheels on emergency vehicles. ;-)
If it's Stuxnet... (Score:2)
... does that mean we can *finally* start classing the Israelis as terrorists and maybe even "liberate" them?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'd say it's more likely the source was a laptop which had been exposed to the outside world. Typically managers/executives etc, who often take their work laptops home.
Re: (Score:3)
I'm gonna take a guess at the cause: somebody decided to use a Microsoft product to control a critical system on which people's lives depend.
Is that even allowed under the license agreement? I do remember Java always said it couldn't be used for ATC and nuclear power systems... doesn't Windows say something like that too?
Re: (Score:3)
Re:I know what caused it (Score:4, Informative)
Yea, and at-least 2 of them were shutdown by windows crashes and were dead in the water, need a tow all the way back to port. The smart ship program started with an unix bases system until MS hired a retired admiral to loby for it.
Windows did not stop Navy ships (Score:3)
Yea, and at-least 2 of them were shutdown by windows crashes and were dead in the water, need a tow all the way back to port.
Thats urban myth. IIRC the original article that claimed that Windows was to blame was debunked. The original article was based primarily on speculation from a unix oriented developer who had not worked on the project and who was not on the ship. The publisher of the article backed away from it. The Navy officers who were on board at the time said it was the application software that controlled the propulsion system. The developers of this application software said it was their fault, although the software
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
The operating system was not involved, it would have happened under unix too.
Not true. Under Unix, it would just have killed the one uncritical process that did the division by zero (the "bad data" was a zero value for a measurement that could/should physically not ever be zero), and would have left the processes controlling propulsion and all the rest alive.
Re: (Score:2)
The operating system was not involved, it would have happened under unix too.
Not true. Under Unix, it would just have killed the one uncritical process that did the division by zero (the "bad data" was a zero value for a measurement that could/should physically not ever be zero), and would have left the processes controlling propulsion and all the rest alive.
You are assuming that the processes controlling the equipment did not do the divide. Furthermore, NT works as you describe. One process misbehaves and is terminated but the others continue, NT and Unix are similar in this manner.
Re: (Score:2)
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yorktown_(CG-48)#Smart_ship_testbed [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Which is why modern fly-by-wire aircraft will come with five systems with identical functionality, but build on different hardware running different software written by independent suppliers. So even if they put Windows in the mix it's not likely they would crash all at the exact same moment.
Unix and Linux, contrary to popular belief, is not crash-free. Running your whole ship on a single Unix base may result in less crashes than a Windows based system, it doesn't make such crashes less catastrophic.
Re: (Score:2)
Unix may not be crash free, but it is a much simpler and better understood system.
When stability or security are important, simplicity is exactly what you want because it gives you the greatest chance of having a full understanding of how and why the system works, and more importantly if something breaks its much simpler to fix. Not to mention, simpler system = less to go wrong.
and a windows crash left a ship dead in the water (Score:2)
and a windows crash left a ship dead in the water.
windows for warships.
No, an *app* crash left a ship dead in the water (Score:2)
and a windows crash left a ship dead in the water.
Actually the navy officers on board the ship at the time of the incident said it was not windows, rather it was an application that controlled propulsion. The developer of this software also admitted it was their software, although it was a development version not the production version that would have handled the fault more robustly. IIRC a speculative article by a unix advocate who was not involved in the project and who was not on the ship made the original claims against windows. Linux advocates ran wit
Re: (Score:2)
Actually the navy officers on board the ship at the time of the incident said it was not windows, rather it was an application that controlled propulsion. The developer of this software also admitted it was their software, although it was a development version not the production version that would have handled the fault more robustly.
Alright, just for the sake of argument, supposing it *was* Windows that caused the fault and not the application. Do you really think the United States Navy is going to publicly say that Windows caused this huge expense and embarrassment?
What expense and embarrassment? The ship was a development platform at the time, not an operational ship. The testing they were doing was to simulate equipment failures (as in pumps and motors not chips and hard drives). IIRC, when they manually entered data into the database to simulate a failure some of the client applications reading that data crashed. I think they had everything back up in a few hours. So they fed a LAN environment under development unexpected data and found nodes with applications that
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:I know what caused it (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
And machinery is perfectly safe so long as its correctly maintained and properly operated...
And yet, machines like cars are being made safer all the time because most people are lazy and are have variable levels of skill at operating machinery. You cant replace the users, but you can make the machines more foolproof to reduce the risk.
Re: (Score:2)
If a bank used an armored car made of cardboard to transport money, would you blame the inevitable robbers, or the bank?
Both.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd blame the robbers for stealing the money, and the bank for not securing it as I had hired them to do, since I know robbers exist and steal money. That said, it's not like banks are going around putting up money-dispensing kiosks that runs Windows [google.com].
Re: (Score:2)
Here's another, additive guess:
The hardware their mission-critical, lives-depend-on-seconds their 'server' ran on? It was probably something like a standalone server without redundant power supplies or disks. The system may have had redundant disks through software RAID. Odds are strong against the system having ECC RAM, or the hardware being on a maintenance plan. Odds are strong for the organization paying 5-10x as much for the 'certified' hardware than it cost the shitty vendor to build from their parts
Re: (Score:2)
"The cause and source of the virus are not yet known."
I'm gonna take a guess at the cause: somebody decided to use a Microsoft product to control a critical system on which people's lives depend.
If a bank used an armored car made of cardboard to transport money, would you blame the inevitable robbers, or the bank?
It doesn't matter what OS you use. They're all susceptible to vulnerability when not properly managed by a competent administration staff.
If a bank used an armored car made of any material and failed to inspect it, maintain it, recognize its flaws, and reinforce it, would you blame the company that made the car, or the bank?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:I know what caused it (Score:4, Interesting)
It is certainly conceivable that somebody mounted a direct attack, the opportunity to cause some deaths with limited chance of repercussions is probably attractive to a few people; but the odds are much greater that some automated attack mechanism hit them without knowing anything more than that the OS and services running on those hosts were vulnerable...
Re: (Score:2)
But Microsoft themselves said they have the most secure OS in history! And less bugs and security holes than Linux!
Yes! In fact, thanks to integer overflow they have a negative number of bugs and security holes!
Re: (Score:2)
I wish I had added a /Sarcasm> tag
Re: (Score:2)
Would it be a complex system to write though? I mean, beyond the 'all software is complex' type response, is it a complex system or just not an 'interesting' one?
Re: (Score:2)
According to wikipedia, Linux has >60% of the server market. Is that parity enough for you to make comparisons with?
Re: (Score:2)
If Linux or OSX had 90% of the market, they'd be much worse off than Windows
[Citation Required]
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft attempted to make up for that by locking the browser completely down on the server. but then you had to unlock part of it to get windows updates, and that stopped working so you had to unlock more to figure out that Microsoft changed where windows updates pulled the updates from..
And that's not counting the other software relying on IE to run properly or update. In the end, it was typically much easier to simply unlock the web browser and not allow anyone to log in. But we know that never happens.
Re: (Score:2)
I would just much rather imply considering the 16 year old is making an argument "they'd be much worse off than Windows" with zero evidence to back up his claim, he likely bases that on a tautology... an observation which is not a good wa
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
On Monday February 14, @01:35AM. XPeter said:
> You fuckers need to stop with the horrible MS virus jokes, it's old and untrue.
> if Linux or OSX had 90% of the market, they'd be much worse off than Windows
XPeter
the idea that other operating systems are just as vulnerable as Windows, and would be as equally compromised if they were just "more popular" is incorrect. The problem comes down to an architectural design choice. Because Windows inherited its design from earlier versions of Windows, the ability
Re: (Score:2)
"**Note- Rick hates the word virii. Exactly why isn't quite clear."
Because it's stupid, that's why.
Trying to argument it over just shows the worst kind of stupidity: wrong pedantry.
The English plural of virus is, as you say, quite accepted by most people and it's "viruses". Of course, if you tried to get the plural for virus in Latin, you'd never get "virii". So, even if it ever were accepted as English usage by custom, "virii" would go into the "smartass that tries to show a culture he completly lacks" c
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Linux has a significant share of the server market...
OSX (iOS) has a significant share of the smartphone market...
Linux (via Android and WebOS) also has a significant share of the smartphone market...
Linux has a significant share of the embedded market.
Linux is dominant in the supercomputer market with over 90% share.
The only real market where Linux isn't strong is the desktop.. Conversely, windows doesn't exist at all in the embedded market (only windows ce/mobile, which is a completely different os).
The s
Re: (Score:2)
Hey, you're the idiot here! - Properly trained personnel and proper security (updates, firewall, usage policy etc.) can actually prevent stuff like this from happening, Windows or not.
Someone was sloppy and people may die from it. Deal with it.
Re: (Score:2)
Uh, I would be worried about my safety going to a place like that.
Really? I mean the report did say all emergency calls were answered and ambulances were dispatched. It sounded like a place that was both prepared and equipped for a disaster. But live in fear if you must.
Windows (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll probably get modded to hell for this, but this isn't Microsoft's fault. Their IT staff is either incompetent, or their management is. Stopping Wdinwso from getting a virus isn't a diffucult proposition.
Install decent AV in it, keep the subscription up to date, done.
You can of course go much further and lock down the OS so it doesn't let removable devices connect etc, but unless this was more than a virus, simple AV would have solved it.
If only it was that easy.... (Score:2, Insightful)
....because it's not. Check an infected file on www.virustotal.com, and you'll see for yourself that at least a third won't detect the virus -- of course this always varies from virus to virus, rendering the 'one AV fits all' argument invalid... sadly.
Re: (Score:2)
This is why I always install at least three different AV programs on any Windows PC.
Re:If only it was that easy.... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3)
And you can still move the mouse without melting the CPU ?
Re: (Score:2)
It isn't about AV here. It's about staff fucking up.
A proper firewall, all updates applied and staff visiting ONLY the sites they're supposed to (which would be a handful of business pages, most of an internal nature) and no way of plugging USB sticks or MP3 players into the system, and you can completely and totally prevent this.
All these things can easily be maintained and enforced by proper security personnel and the correct settings in the relevant OS.
Someone didn't do their job and it seems like both t
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen this sort of crap from a safe distance and
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Hah, hah! While I won't argue with the proposition that it is possible to make Windows secure, the idea that installing AV is sufficient is laughable.
Show me the AV tool that catches 100% of viruses, including new viruses that have just been seen in the wild.
Re: (Score:2)
norton catches a virus every time i boot up... it's a dll that makes my critical software run. i have to un-quarantine every single boot.
which makes me less likely to ever turn the machine off, which means security patches don't get installed, unless i get a crash or the power fails.
norton would store the exception, but it's GUI (sadly not the scanner itself) crashes in a runtime error on exiting and never bothers to save the exception.
i love norton. it's the best virus-simulator i've ever found.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, I believe that comment was more to the liking of just because an AV is installed, it doesn't mean you are completely safe. It's not that you wouldn't want to install one.
Re: (Score:2)
By "decent AV" do you mean "AV which management will approve and is made by Symantec or McAfee" or "AV which doesn't fit the previous description"? Because the former may have even caused this, directly.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I agree with that, and would like to add a few more points (not sure whether they're valid or not in this case, just general):
Why would the computers or their LAN have to be connected to the Internet? That's one major attack vector. I can understand they need to interface with other networks - Internet can help - but how about simply whitelisting those allowed connections in a firewall? And reject any and all incoming connections to the network on firewall level?
Why allow users to attach any external medi
Re: (Score:2)
> I'll probably get modded to hell for this ... Install decent AV in it, keep the subscription up to date, done.
You're just *wrong*. You need to understand how antivirus packages work, and then *think* about what they don't and can't do...
Re: (Score:2)
There's something very wrong about running an AV on a server... [xkcd.com]
Re: (Score:3)
I suppose one could have separate networks and computers for mission-critical applications, but is that really the best way to spend healthcare dollars?
You tell me, you're the one sitting here complaining about this. You're the one who said security is a process not a product, but are you questioning whether physical security is worth spending an amount of money which effectively looks like a rounding error on a government department balance sheet?
By the way this is exactly what we do at my workplace. Each operator has their console with 4 monitors a comfy chair, and a separate computer they can screw with as much as they want without risking anything.
If.... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I heard one's being worked on but they are trying to shave a few microseconds off the compile time for the built in .bf compiler and no one wants to make the UI.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Windows is such crapware, as so many of you think, why don't you guys all get together and write an emergency management system that runs on a Linux distro? Now I obviously don't know for sure, but it seems likely the reason they are using Windows is that their application is written that way. Take a way the need to use Windows before bitching and moaning about them using Windows.
Presentation at this week's North Carolina GIS Conference
Open Source Computer-Aided-Dispatch – GIS at
Work in Emergency Response,” Arnie Shore,
Anne Arundel Co, MD
Looks like Arnie will be talking about this:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.comp.opensource/browse_thread/thread/29ba12a929bd7bd3?pli=1
Re: (Score:2)
A big part of this is 'compliance testing'. It's hard (and expensive) to get a product approved for this-or-that "mission critical", regulated use.
Not only that, but you can guarantee the cogs of local government would make all-Linux (or whatever) locked-down workstations a no-go. Users would bitch, and that'd be the end of that: facebook would be available, "application" would be available, and so on - and it'd be all over. It doesn't matter which OS it's running on if there is no administration.
Re: (Score:2)
Who do they call for support?
Troll.
---
Paid marketers are the worst zealots.
Re: (Score:2)
Who do they call for support?
Troll.
Unfortunately, TrollTech (which is a great example of what GP described) will soon be owned by Microsoft.
Wait... (Score:2)
they need to talk to other systems (Score:2)
They are just Dispatch they need incoming data and data on where they are sending the ambulances to after picking people up.
Re: (Score:2)
Which doesn't require access to the internet. We have this thing called a VPN that pretty much solves that problem.
Ignoring that, you can just only allow access to the remote systems that are required for that data.
I'm constantly amazed that anyone allows any critical systems access to the internet.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
A backup system was in place - a paper one. I worked in an ambulance control and a paper-only system was in place and tested monthly in case of complete power/system failure.
It sounds scarily old fashioned but if well thought out paper backups are perfectly effective - and resilient.
Semmelweis ... (Score:2)
... had the answer. Wash your hands after touching a Windows machine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis [wikipedia.org]
Worst Reporting Ever - a "creepy" virus? (Score:2)
A rather interesting choice of words in TFA: "The virus crept into"
Eek ! In all my years, I've never known a virus to "creep" anywhere. Once in a computer they usually jump about and whack the system senseless in a few microseconds. This must be one of those new super-viri we've been hearing about because the mental giants responsible for this system still have no idea as to the cause or source, according to TFA. Glad to know that calls to the 000 emergency number weren't affected, although for the unknown
Where does it say Windows? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Where does it say Windows? (Score:5, Interesting)
Almost every comment posted so far is bashing Microsoft or Windows for being an insecure OS but I can't find any mention of either in the article. It doesn't give any information about what kind of system the Ambulance Service was running.
It said, 'Virus'. That means Windows.
I hate to be the pee on your your empiricism, but the preponderance of evidence accumulated over the last 15 years leads to the conclusion that Windows is a necessary precondition for a virus to take down an entire system (as opposed to a single PC).
Secondly, if this had been a Mac or Linux virus, you can bet your bottom dollar the headline would say so. In 4 inch letters. And red type. With Drudge-style cherries spinning. And a klaxon.
Plus, the very next story would be about the spontaneous, simultaneous death by shock-and-horror of the entire editorial staff at the Register. And Wired. And boingboing.
And then Slashdot would slashdot itself. And dogs would play with cats...
... And everyone would finally get their pony.
Re: (Score:2)
Almost every comment posted so far is bashing Microsoft or Windows for being an insecure OS but I can't find any mention of either in the article. It doesn't give any information about what kind of system the Ambulance Service was running.
It said, 'Virus'. That means Windows.
I hate to be the pee on your your empiricism, but the preponderance of evidence accumulated over the last 15 years leads to the conclusion that Windows is a necessary precondition for a virus to take down an entire system (as opposed to a single PC).
That also can mean "We still do not know what hit us" or "We know what did hit us, and it was our fault and we do not want it to be known".
*sigh* (Score:2)
Not the end of the world (Score:2)
As an EMT for the past 4 years, most places are coordinated by telephone, (standard) radio, and handwritten notes. Including my agency. It works just fine.
For large cities or areas, CAD (computer-aided dispatch, in this context) is a fantastic tool - but they functioned without it probably as recently as a few years ago. Some of the dispatchers still working there, I'm sure, started out without a fancy CAD and are perfectly happy to keep track of everybody's location using Post-Its, a map, a notepad, and pe
Boredom... (Score:3, Interesting)
Having worked for many health care facilities over the years, including those with EMT/Ambulance staff, I can tell you that ambulance drivers and dispatchers suffer from periods of insane boredom while waiting for the next call to come in. During this downtime, they monkey with the PCs, browse some of the most pointless/inappropriate websites, and try plugging anything with an ethernet jack in to your network. The latter includes personal laptops, wireless access points and satellite/cable boxes. Solutions to this include 802.1x/NAP and even just getting the crews a DSL/Cable internet connection for their personal use. Like many things in I.T. (and life in general), the more you restrict someone's access to something they want, the more they will work against your efforts to restrict them.
In this case, I'll put my money on an outside computer being plugged in to the network.
I've never had to deal with I.T. in a fire station, but I can guess it's every bit as bad, if not worse.
Simple fix (Score:2)
100% isolated with no Internet access, period. Bring all patches in via offline media and/or an isolated DMZ drop off point, and then bring them into a central WSUS/Secunia/Shavlik server for updates. Remove all external media methods (remove DVD/CD drives, epoxy USB ports). Install a decent piece of auditing software (Tripwire) to track all unauthorized changes. Not simple, but not hard for a competent IT team.
Add a proper test/staging lab where you evaluate all changes and track them, and you've got a
A chromeos candidate (Score:2)
Re:Fools. (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, this is NSW. With Keneally at the helm you know that you are going down one way or another.
Funny thing, I'm not seeing the Liberal Party in NSW pushing the "Replace MS Windows with Linux" as a point on their electoral agenda. Can you please provide a link?
Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)
do. not. attempt. to. reason. with. a. Liberal. voter. ...or in fact anybody that votes just for the one party every election without bothering to find out who they're voting for.
it's not the fucking football. there's actually things at stake, but apathy has meant both sides get away with whatever they want and the result is the same each time.
the Greens would be just fine, but my dealings with them show a group of really nice people who would never expect to win and just want to do their part.
Re: (Score:2)
the Greens would be just fine, but my dealings with them show a group of really nice people who would never expect to win and just want to do their part.
That's what I'd expect from every politician: stay true to their principles and do their job no matter if winning or not (guess it shows somehow my degree of idealism and naivety, but well, I'm not dead enough as yet).
Re: (Score:3)
that's my view too.
but do you expect idealism to ever win against greed and self-interest with a budget and a higher profile? and media outlets in their pocket?
i understand preferential voting and vote for change rather than mediocrity, but i know that at the end of the day i can only increase a percentage with the hope of influencing the guys that actually win.
and with the performance at the vic state election - Lib and ALP colluding to force the Greens out, i don't think even my meagre percentage game is
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
It's quite possible to set up an environment where Windows is safe for mission critical applications - but often users won't accept the limitations that have to be imposed. Things like no general web browsing at all (except to sites that host a business application), no removable media, no admin rights or ability to install software, email is filtered for viruses and limited to corporate emails and emails from business partners, no other email is delivered to agents.
I've worked in IT at a 100 seat call cent
Re: (Score:2)
If they're a critical service, why are they running Windows?
Re: (Score:2)
Close. But a better question would be, "How is this budget best allocated to minimize the chance of service discontinuities and mitigate the effects of any such downtime."
A simple system that you can re-start easily, and which fails in a way that doesn't corrupt the data may very well be superior solution to a complicated one which cuts the chance of downtime by 99%, but has major difficulties coming back online after an event. Your budget is always limited, and you want to make sure you optimize on the t
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed. And which particular system has major difficulties coming back online after an event? Oh, wait, right, the one they have now.