Computer Worm Infects International Space Station

Computer Worm Infects International Space Station

technology.timesonline.co.uk

NASA has confirmed that computer viruses have made it into space, after finding that computers on board the International Space Station were harbouring a malicious worm.

The worm, known as W32.Gammima.AG, was found on laptops used by astronauts to relay e-mail to mission control in Texas. NASA said that the infected computers were not linked to any of the space station’s control systems or to the internet.

(visit the link for the full news article)

This information also seems relevant:

Gammima.AG was first detected in August last year and appears to have taken nearly a year to escape the Earth’s gravitational pull. It was detected on board the space station on July 25 and immediately quarantined by security software, NASA said.

Firewalls on one of taxpayers most expensive 'assets' is not in budget?!

technology.timesonline.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 30-8-2008 by arktkchr]

Firewalls on one of taxpayers most expensive 'assets' is not in budget?!

Nope. I think they are spending all the tax dollars to build a better weightless donut.

reply to post by mtmouse32


Pretty funny... anyway, found this, seems that this 'problem' isn't the first:

Antivirus vendor Symantec's malware database entry said the code is only used to steal account information to online games.

The worm, known as W32.Gammima.AG, is spread through removable media such as USB drives and external hard drives.

In its paper on Gamimma, Symantec said the worm offers a very low risk. It affects all Windows systems, copying itself to all drives from C through Z and modifying the registry so it executes whenever Windows starts.

This is not the first infection at the space agency, either. "It has happened before, but it's not a frequent occurrence," National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) spokesperson Kelly Humphries told InternetNews.com. He confirmed that NASA is a high-security organization, but would not discuss why its computers keep on getting infected if that's the case. "We continually refine and update our procedures and do our best to protect the systems on the station," Humphries said.

www.internetnews.com...

Sorry to burst your bubbles guys, hate to be the bringer of bad news, but this has already been posted... some time ago.

Computer viruses make it to orbit

It's about 4 pages back at the moment in Breaking Alternative News.

[edit on 30-8-2008 by johnsky]

reply to post by johnsky


...think I went two to three pages back. Thanks for the heads-up... apologies moderators -- please close.