My old CERT colleague, Casey J. Dunlevy, called me after the Mytob worm infected patient Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) equipment in the intensive care units at both St. Bartholomew's the Royal London Hospital and the London Chest Hospital, both in Britain.  Casey had just gotten off the phone with officials at the hospitals.  The officials "verbally confirmed that most of the survivors are doing fine," Casey told me.  "Those who survived [the attack] are expected to make a full recovery."

Casey breathed a sigh of relief after he passed along the news to me.  "Britain could have lost a lot more lives than they did," he explained.  You see, this is not the first time a malicous computer program has attacked a hospital.  Casey reminded me of an event a few years ago when the Mafia killed a man over the Internet as he lay in a hospital bed.  I am quick to note that Casey revealed the Mafia hit during his CERT lecture titled "Security Realities."

It should be noted that Casey was ridiculed a few years ago by a self-proclaimed computer virus expert, after Casey provided extraordinary details of the Mafia's hospital attack.  I remember being very angry when I heard this man had besmirched my friend's reputation.  But now Casey will finally get his due.  This latest event in Britain proves without a doubt that patients risk more than "death by scalpel" when they check into a high-tech hospital.