UK websites infected with virus

UK Government and consumer websites have been targetted by Eastern European hackers who have been harvesting the details of those using them using a new computer virus.

The Asprox virus has been found on sites including those run by the NHS and local councils, and can lay dormant and hidden. They then install themselves on the users' computers and can be used to access financial and other personal information.

There has been a recent spike in infections, with experts believing that more than two million computers worldwide having been affected by it. The Metropolitan Police's computer crime unit has been monitoring the situation and says that it is becoming more widespread.

Detective Constable Bob Burls of the Metropolitan said: “The virus got into the job pages of a local council’s internet page,” he said. “It’s a new thing that people who visit mainstream websites are clobbered.”