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Computer Virus Aboard the ISS
chrb writes "BBC News is reporting that laptops taken to the International Space Station by NASA astronauts are infected with the Gammima.AG worm. The laptops have no net connection; officials suspect the worm may have been transferred via a USB flash drive owned by an astronaut. NASA have said this isn't the first time computer viruses had travelled into space."
Microsoft can't hear you scream.
Yeah, my karma sucks....but so do the mods.
that Captain Kirk picked up something nasty from those green bitches. Damn space viruses.
You don't really understand. There is nothing they could have done to prevent the worm. The astronaut was installing Outlook which asked them to "close all software like antivirus and firewall which may interfere with the installation". The rest is history...
My thoughts exactly. There is no reboot after you hit the Blue Planet Of Death...
*ducks*
Complexity is a measure of our ignorance...
That's what the laptop virus is there for - you can't be too careful.
Network security really isn't that hard! It isn't like it's rocket scie... oh... nevermind...
What *Windows* is doing in space in the first place.
because it is already considered a large waste of 'space'
Will there be an Andromeda Strain of this Virus?
Regards, Ian
So much for extrans.
I _FAIL_
Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
Because Minix doesn't support text formatting.
Honestly though, Why the hell dont the laptops have anti virus software? if they are going to run a OS that is targeted by the bulk of viruses out there then it's dumb to send it up without AV software installed.
It looks like Mark Shuttleworth might have to make another trip up there to drop off some Ubuntu disks.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
Q. Where do these NASA guys get their pr0n from?
A. Oh yeah.. the USB drive.
RutSum.com
More importantly, it has no applications.
That they need IT staff on the ISS.
Even astronauts are not smart enough to maintain and repair their computers.
Honestly though, Why the hell dont the laptops have anti virus software? if they are going to run a OS that is targeted by the bulk of viruses out there then it's dumb to send it up without AV software installed.
There is no reason for a email/nutritional PC to not run AV.
AV on astronaut laptops, are you crazy?
What we need to do is send this virus to aliens!
Didn't you learn _anything_ from Independece Day?
What *Windows* is doing in space in the first place.
I've always thought that opening Windows on a space ship is a bad thing
The virus is actually an alien computer system attempting to interface with the station's computer systems.
Kirk: Spock __ Can __ you translate __ their message? Spock: Yes Captain. The message is, "Do you wish to enlarge your penis?" Kirk: Make it so...
equals wormhole! Ha! Ha! Ha.. oh never mind.
> I wonder what virus was actually the first to make it to space.
Agent Smith would say Yuri Gagarin.
Come on slashdot, don't be twee, what Operating System does this 'computer virus' need to run on .. Systems Affected: Windows 2000, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP ...
You're being difficult. Anyone can see this is a cross-platform virus.
Send the Geek Squad...I volunteer. (yes I work at Best Buy..hey, the discount rocks!)
45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
more s/w = more bits
more bits = more weight
more weight = more $$ to launch
thus they decided to make the install as lean as possible. i heard linux installs all this crazy unnecessary stuff for you.
I've always thought that opening Windows on a space ship is a bad thing
Yes, the results would prove conclusively that Windows quite literally suck(s).
http://www.xkcd.com/463/
Faith is a willingness to accept something w/o complete proof and to act on it. Reason allows you to correct that faith.
That's one small step for a virus, one giant leap for viruskind.
"Dave, send 40 grand to the prince in Nigeria if you want me to open the pod doors, Dave."
Table-ized A.I.
The reason NASA didn't bother with AV is because there's no pressure on their IT department. In a normal office, the IT department usually gets screamed at when computers don't work. But in space, nobody can hear you scream.
I hate printers.
...the ship's got space herpes.
It was a pirated copy of some stuff that installed the virus.
At least we now may have real 'Space Pirates'.
will definitely go to the first bot herder that manages to get a node on the ISS.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.