Malware affects Church of England computer systems and e-mail communications

Mar 17, 2009 11:15 GMT  ·  By

Local media reports that the e-mail communication of the Bishop of Manchester has been hindered for the past 10 days by an unnamed computer virus. The blasphemous piece of malware has also infected other systems belonging to the Church of England (CoE).

IT technicians have been called in by the Church of England to investigate the computer of the Bishop of Manchester, Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch, which has been acting up lately. They have concluded that the man of faith has been unable to send or receive any e-mail messages for more than a week because of a virus that infected his computer on March 3rd.

One might wonder why is this newsworthy, so we have to specify that Nigel McCulloch is also, ironically, the communications spokesman for the Church of England and that his electronic communication silence for the last 10 days in not the only repercussion of this infection.

While attempting to remove the virus, the technicians have discovered that the problem also extended to other systems. At least two more Bishops, of Bolton and Middleton, also had their computers corrupted, as well as the offices of the Diocese of Manchester and its Archdeacons. Messages being sent to the church's website have also been undelivered.

Looking back at Nigel McCulloch's past e-mail activity, the IT staff has concluded that many of the approximately 6,000 e-mails sent by the Bishop in the last 10 months may have not been properly delivered. It has also been noted that establishing precisely which e-mails got through and which didn't may prove impossible.

This is particularly bad for someone whose job attributes include acting as a spokesperson. A spokesman, for the spokesman, obviously, extended apologies to everyone who's messages to the Bishop went unanswered. "The diocese receives about a million spam messages a year along with numerous virus attacks. The fact that one virus got through and the effect it has had on our systems vindicates the decision to move our IT provision," he commented for the Manchester Evening News.

This is another example that malware does not make social differences. While some thieves or burglars would probably think twice before targeting a priest, virus writers do not seem to be troubled by the same concerns when it comes to possible Godly punishments or the afterlife.