The genome has been sequenced several times over, and we have the technology to synthesize parts of the virus if we really need it for vaccine design.

FORBES: It's time to destroy the U.S. smallpox reserves

Its technology fuses bacterial proteins with part of the flu virus so that the vaccine can be made much more cheaply.

FORBES: Government Backs Futuristic Flu Shots

Yet ironically, as Microsoft slowly improves the security of its products by, for instance, incorporating firewall technology, anti-virus systems and spam filters its actions increasingly start to resemble those that, in the past, have got the firm into trouble with regulators.

ECONOMIST: Microsoft

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at anti-virus company Sophos, said the virus had been known about since the end of June and anyone with up to date anti-virus software was unlikely to be infected by it.

BBC: Pokemon virus contained