NASA had 5,408 computer security lapses in 2010 and 2011, including the March 2011 loss of a laptop computer that contained algorithms used to command and control the International Space Station (ISS), the agency’s Inspector General recently told the US Congress. An attack by Chinese hackers on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, was also mentioned.

“These incidents spanned a wide continuum, from individuals testing their skill to break into NASA systems, to well-organised criminal enterprises hacking for profit, to intrusions that may have been sponsored by foreign intelligence services seeking to further their countries’ objectives,” Inspector General Paul Martin said in written testimony before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee investigations panel.