Virus disables embassies' protection against visas for terrorists
If things weren't complicated enough for visitors to the post-9/11 US, now a virus in the system used by embassies worldwide before they issue visas brought everything down according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
The virus crippled the department's Consular Lookout and Support System, known as CLASS, which contains more than 12.8 million records from the FBI, State Department and U.S. immigration, drug-enforcement and intelligence agencies. Among the names in the files are those of at least 78,000 suspected terrorists.
The State Department has invested heavily in the CLASS system since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, more than doubling the number of names that applicants are checked against. One provision of the Patriot Act, passed just weeks after the attacks, added FBI records, including the bureau's violent gang and terrorist database. The list also includes the names of at least 20,000 people accused of serious customs violations and the names of 78,000 suspected terrorists.