Space Station Laptop Virus: This Isn't Rocket Science!

Then again maybe anti-virus precautions are rocket science, or should be, as witness a worm problem in a laptop onboard the International Space Station.The news that a worm had infected a laptop in the space station was good for a sigh and laugh -- especially since it was quickly made clear that no critical station systems were placed at risk.

When further news revealed that the spacefaring worm was one designed to steal online game logons, the laughs got a little louder.

But when flash card carried by an astronaut was alleged to be a source of the infection, the sighs started to outweigh the laughs -- and these are sighs especially relevant to small and midsize businesses.

Flash cards and every other device or tool that can be connected to any of your equipment are potential sources of infection. If you don't have device monitors and enforceable device policies in place, you're allowing your network -- or unconnected machines -- to be placed at risk.

This really isn't rocket science, no matter what's going on in orbit.