Perhaps you’ve seen this movie: A virus infects a human-piloted spacecraft, and within days the mission is compromised and Earth is lost to the alien attackers. There’s now a report that the first part of that storyline has come true — only it’s a computer virus on the International Space Station.
Space-oriented Web site SpaceRef.com has reported that a laptop aboard the International Space Station has become infected with a Level 0 virus, and on Tuesday the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) confirmed that a virus was carried aboard last month.
A ‘Nuisance’
The governmental agency says the virus is a “nuisance,” adding that it was on non-critical laptops that are used for relatively low-level functions like e-mail and experiments about nutrition.
NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries noted that the agency has previously had to deal with virus control as one of the threats in space, although specifics weren’t given. “It’s not a frequent occurrence,” Humphries said, “but this isn’t the first time.”
While NASA didn’t identify the virus, SpaceRef said it was one called W.32.Gammima.AG worm. This virus’ claim to fame is that it tries to steal sensitive information, like credentials, from any of about a dozen online games, including ZhengTu, Wanmi Shije (Perfect World), HuangYi Online, Seal Online, Maple Story, Talesweaver, R2 (Reign of Revolution), and others. The games are popular in Asia.
The virus, which was first detected in 2007, was found on more than one laptop in the space station. No word on whether the infection was laptop-to-laptop, through an intranet or a USB drive, but the evidence points to a drive.
No Direct Internet Access
The mystery is how the virus managed to hitch an unpaid ride on the most expensive vehicle in or out of this world.
NASA’s Humphries said that it was not clear which country had purchased the laptops, or…