Coastguard chiefs failed to act on virus warning

Published on Sunday 23 May 2004 01:00

BRITAIN’S coastguard chiefs were warned to take action against a devastating computer virus more than two weeks before it paralysed their networks for six hours on one of the busiest weekend of the year.

The Home Office has confirmed that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) was sent six separate alerts over the Sasser worm virus in the weeks before the bug struck networks around the world over the May bank holiday weekend.

The agency’s bosses now face being hauled over the coals after ministers ordered an urgent inquiry into the failure, which also raises serious questions about the effectiveness of Britain’s preparations for a national emergency.

A German schoolboy put the lives of sailors around Britain’s coast at risk when his virus infiltrated the MCA computer system and floored the search and rescue systems used by the agency’s sites across the country. The worm also caused flight delays at Heathrow and disrupted businesses round the world at a cost that could run into millions.

The MCA said its e-mail and electronic mapping system had been disrupted by the Sasser worm, although officials stressed there was no impact on operational duties, as staff reverted to traditional paper maps. Although there were no serious alerts during the system’s time out of action, the worm would have deprived the UK’s 19 coastguard stations of an important and sophisticated tool had they been called on to mount a rescue.

"Radio and other forms of communication from ships at sea remain unaffected," said Peter Dymond, head of search and rescue at the MCA. "Despite the problems that this bug has given us, we remain confident that no rescue or incident will be affected."

But it has now emerged that, despite the agency’s attempts to play down the significance of the attack, it had failed repeatedly to act on warnings, and to acquire an electronic "patch" that would have protected the system from infiltration.

Home Office officials have revealed that the Government first received a warning from computer giants Microsoft on April 13, and immediately flashed it to all departments and agencies via the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC).

A briefing to the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) on April 13 gave full details of the threat to systems posed by Sasser. But the initial advice was followed by a further three alerts, on April 19, 23 and 30, "warning of the potential of a worm and advising system owners to apply the patch that Microsoft had made available".

Additional bulletins were issued on May 1 and 3 as the situation developed.

But Home Office minister Baroness Scotland said the NISCC had no powers to order agencies to take action.

She said: "The Coastguard Service is part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), which in turn is part of the Department for Transport, and forms part of the CNI. The MCA is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the infection."

A spokeswoman for the MCA said she had no details of the investigation, but insisted the alert had not threatened to cause a major calamity.