Computer Virus Crashes San Diego Court Computers

A computer virus infected San Diego Superior Court computers, forcing employees to work manually and causing some public service delays, court officials said Thursday.

The virus was discovered Monday after reports of unusual desktop behavior.

Employees reported that computers were repeatedly restarting or freezing, and that they could not get some applications to work.

To keep the virus from spreading, courthouse computers were taken off the county and state computer network, forcing court personnel to revert to paper files.

Employees are also having difficulty accessing information such as court dates and case information, said Superior Court spokeswoman Karen Dalton.

Court officials asked the public for patience and urged those who need information to have their court-issued paperwork, courtesy notices or tickets with them when they come to court.

Information technology personnel and outside vendors are working to get rid of the virus, but it was unknown when the court computers will be back online, Dalton said.