The Stuxnet computer virus developed by the U.S. and Israel to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program has infected the International Space Station.

A Russian nuclear power plant was reportedly “badly infected” by the rogue Stuxnet virus, the same malware that reportedly disrupted Iran’s nuclear program several years ago. The virus then spread to the International Space Station via a Stuxnet-infected USB stick transported by Russian cosmonauts.

Speaking to journalists in Canberra, Australia, last week, Eugene Kaspersky, head of the anti-virus and cyber protection firm that bears his name, said he had been tipped off about the damage by a friend who works at the Russian plant.

If this doesn’t scare you it should.  There has been a lot of talk about a global pandemic killing billions of people.  But in this technology dependent interconnected world could a digital virus cause even more havoc and death?  Imagine it infecting the power grid, the system that supplies your water, a run away nuclear power plant, government computer systems.  Cyber wars may present a greater threat to our civilization than nuclear weapons and there is really nothing much we can do about it.  It’s not just government cyber wars. There are plenty of independent computer savy sociopaths and psychopaths out there.

Update

I don’t know how legitimate this is but it makes it even scarier.  Siemens industrial controllers are everywhere.