Knoxville (WVLT) - Two mega churches in Knox County have been attacked by a very malicious, devilish computer virus.
Network administrators at the churches have spent the last week trying to identify the problem and fix more than 200 computers.
Sixteen computers and 2 servers at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in West Knoxville have been infected.
"It's a very complex very destructive very fast virus," Cedar Springs Presbyterian network administrator Gene Dunn said.
Cedar Springs isn't the only church infected. First Baptist Concord in Farragut has 187 computers and nine servers destroyed by the virus.
"We think it has to do with something that multiple churches would have in common that almost has to be a website that we all go to," Dunn said.
The virus prevents the computer from going to any website that has anything to do with anti-virus. It also prevents the computer from rebooting into safe mode which is often necessary to make a repair.
"It got in under the radar through one of the best anti virus systems in the world, Trend Micro, is used by very very large corporations," Dunn said.
Both churches have identified the virus. Now they're in the recovery stage which will last through at least tomorrow. They've got to make sure everything is cleared up before they put the servers back on the network.
Neither of the churches know where the virus originated. The total cost of the virus is yet to be determined.
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