I have no idea what that “something” is and the scary part is that the French military doesn’t appear to know either.

The other commenters make some great points too.

The entire matter is downright scary. It shows how dependent we are on fragile technologies for our well-being and security.

Windows is not worth the risk where money or life is involved.

What in hell is the military doing running critical applications on Microsoft Windows? Has anybody bothered asking that question?

Do the avionics systems run Windows on an Airbus or a Boeing 777, let alone a military fighter jet? No. So why is the flight planning system using SQL Server and Windows?

It’s ridiculous. Even armies and air forces are being vendorized. Shameful.

First, it is not just viruses that have to be considered. It is now just a bit over 30 years since Air New Zealand lost a DC10 as a result of changes made to nav points without the knowledge of the flight crew – changes that were made to the left instead of the right of the flight path putting NZ801 into the top of Mt Erebus. That might not be so critical for military…

Second, performance degradation as outlined by James can be overcome provided that the transfer of data base to a/craft can be satisfactorily inoculated.

Third, how many commercial operators might be at risk of similar infection and even worse consequences?

Finally, the comment about terrorists is right on the mark. As for “…they must be taking note…” I can believe that it is already on their list if not in place for future activation. How might that be? Ask any of the really bright teenagers who monkey around in these dark recesses.

“The computer virus problem had no effect on the availability of our forces.” The virus attacked the non-secured internal French navy network called Intramar and was detected on 21 January. The whole network was affected and military ……

Just like in the medical industry, you can’t use anti-virus. Period. The problem with anti-virus is that it affects the timing of the actions of the OS by random amounts (depending on the number of files it has to scan etc.) and it can actually slow down the overall speed of processing. A more radical form of this can be seen if you try to watch a youtube video during a system scan.

Unfortunately with a high speed jet you can’t have calculations be completed at random speeds. The software for target acquisition or automatic navigation require real time results calculation. For example if you as a pilot were to nose into a box canyon it is physically impossible for you to pull up fast enough to avoid the wall at the far end, computers have to read terrain, calculate the necessary modifications needed to pull out (without killing you with G forces) and execute them. delay those calculations by even .1% each and the compounded delay could have you doing excavation instead of negotiation.

Calibrated reactions are an absolute necessity and you can’t calibrate a system with AV installed.