Warship computers scuttled after virus attack

Computer systems were disabled on warships and armed forces bases by the Ministry of Defence after a virus spread through a Ministry of Defence network.

A number of the MoD's 282,000 staff were left without email or internet access after the MoD took the decision to shut down machines following the virus infection last week, including those on a number of Royal Navy ships.

The MoD said that no operational systems were infected and only what it described as "administrative machines" handling email and internet were affected by the virus.

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The malware was first detected on Tuesday 6 January and immediate action was taken to stop it spreading any further, according to the MoD.

The clean-up is described as an "ongoing process" and the MoD said staff who are still offline will be reconnected "as soon as possible".

An MoD spokeswoman said: "It is a very clever virus that managed to get past some of our security systems.

"Due to pre-existing security measures, no classified or personal data has been or will be compromised.

"We have shut down certain parts of the affected systems to help clear it out.

"The virus has not specifically been targeted at the MoD."

An MoD investigation is now looking into how the infection got into its systems and how it was able to spread between machines.