Five years ago in 2008, scientists brought aboard the space station, malware that infected their systems.

Last week, the story came back to light with the speech by Eugene Kaspersky, head of Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab. Kaspersky said that malware was everywhere. And to add to it, so had been the Space Station. Kaspersky explained that malware pathogens hitched a ride on removable media carried up onto the space station by astronauts.

Kaspersky said: "Scientists, from time to time, they are coming to space with USBs which are infected. I'm not kidding. I was talking to a Russian space guys and they said from time to time there are virus epidemics in the space station."

He has identified the malware as Gammima-AG, a Trojan designed to steal online gaming passwords, but caused no damage or disruption. He was pointing out that Windows systems everywhere were susceptible to malware. He also pointed out that it also highlights how USB sticks can easily spread digital nasties.