London: A virus attack on French military computers has grounded the nation's naval fighter planes after pilots failed to download their flight plans, media reports in France said.
According to the <i>Liberation</i> newspaper, the virus infected the Navy's flight databases and Rafale aircraft were "nailed to the ground" on January 15 and 16 because they were unable to "download their flight plans".
Though Microsoft had warned several months beforehand that the "Conficker" virus, transmitted through Windows, was attacking computers, media reports claimed the French military ignored the warning and failed to take the necessary measures, British newspaper <i>The Sunday Telegraph</i> reported.
However, the French Navy has admitted that during the time it took to eradicate the virus, it had to return to more traditional forms of communication - telephone, fax and post.
"It affected exchanges of information but no information was lost. It was a security problem we had already simulated. We cut the communication links that could have transmitted the virus and 99 per cent of the network is safe," Navy spokesman Jrome Erulin told <i>Ouest France</i> newspaper.