[ale] OT: Downadup/conficker worm makes MSM

[Mike Harrison]

> The Register published a hilarious story about a hospital whose network was
> brought down by the worm. They had turned off automated Windows update, because
> they had a critical computer reboot on them in the middle of surgery. Having
> turned off the updates, they missed the one that would have offered them some
> protection.

I'm a few years (10+) out of date, but I specifically remember that MS 
products were specifically NOT allowed (By MS) to be used for life support
applications in hospitals. Apparently this has changed. Unfortunately.

Story: Once upon a time in '89 I ended up sitting on the floor in the OR,
cranking, by hand, the "heart lung machine" (Perfusion), because the
hospital lost power, both feeds, the generators would not start,
and the internal battery backup of the machine was dead.
Having a machine that only required a flow of 02 and something to
crank the rollers for blood flow (hand crank was affixed to bottom of 
machine with clips and tie wraps) to keep the patient alive was a savior.

It was a reminder of the power of a good "oh shit" backup strategy.

Which reminds me, I need to get the replicating backup MySQL servers
built today and online for a project.