A computer virus has made it into space. The space news site SpaceRef reports that Nasa has confirmed that laptops taken onto the International Space Station (ISS) last month were infected with the Gammima.AG virus but stress that nothing on board is in danger.
They’re now trying to figure just how the laptops – which were used for nutritional programs and to let astronauts send e-mail to earth and which reportedly carried no antivirus software – came to be infected. Nasa suspects the virus might have been on a USB drive an astronaut took into space.
The Gammima.AG virus grabs login names and passwords then attempts to relay them to a central server. It targets 10 games that are popular in Asia, according to the BBC.
What’s especially interesting is the fact that Nasa admitted this isn’t the first time computer viruses have gone into orbit, telling Wired News that infected laptops have gone to the ISS before, but without any major incidents.
Nasa is putting security procedures in place to ensure no repetition of the incident.
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