Eugene Kaspersky revealed during his speech at the Press Club in Canberra, Australia that an engineer friend told him Stuxnet had 'badly infected' the internal network of a Russian nuclear plant after the sophisticated malware caused chaos in Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz.



The malware, according to the article from SC Magazine, widely considered to have been developed by the US Government as a means to disrupt Iran's nuclear enrichment plans, had crossed a physically separated 'air-gapped' network in the Russian plant after it was carried across on a USB device.

The Jerusalem Post quotes Kaspersky as saying the virus "badly infected" the network of the Russian plant plant.

The malware specifically targeted Siemens supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems that are used to manage plant industrial processes.



Kaspersky also told his audience that the malware was later transported by Russian astronauts to the space station on a USB stick.

The sophisticated Stuxnet worm was estimated to have set Iran’s nuclear program back by two years, after it was discovered in June 2010 to have attacked computers at the Islamic Republic's plant in Natanz.